Israeli troops kill two Hamas militants in Gaza Strip

Israeli troops killed two Hamas militants in Gaza Strip.

Photo: Israeli troops kill two Hamas militants in Gaza Strip

In northern Gaza, an Israeli airstrike killed one Hamas militant as he approached the fence separating Israel and Gaza. The army said it identified two armed men apparently planting an explosive device and opened fire against them. Palestinian medical officials said they evacuated a 22-year-old man with shrapnel wounds all across his body. Hamas identified the man as Fadi Assaf, one of its men.

Meanwhile, in the southern Gaza Strip the army shot dead a man crawling toward the border. Hamas identified the man as 35-year-old Mustafa al-Sufi. His family said he was shot from a nearby army watch tower.

Israel routinely carries out pre-dawn attacks rocket launching pads and against militants who near its border.

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, and Tuesday's incidents come just hours before Israeli and Palestinian leaders are to meet at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.