An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian gunmen near the Gaza border today as Israel kept up attacks that have killed civilians as well as militants.
An army spokeswoman said an Israeli aircraft fired at two men who had approached the Israel-Gaza frontier carrying rifles.
Palestinian security forces said the militants belonged to al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and were on their way to plant bombs.
The group, which belongs to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction even though he opposes violence, confirmed the men's identities and deaths. Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has carried out dozens of rocket attacks against Israel.
The Palestinian government, which the Islamist group Hamas took over after winning a January election, said Israel's recent attacks in Gaza were aimed at strangling the new administration.
Israel, the United States and the European Union have cut direct aid to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas's election victory and have urged it to renounce violence and recognise the Jewish state and interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals.
In a statement, the Hamas cabinet called the EU action collective punishment and a "green light to the Israeli occupation to continue its aggression against the Palestinian people."
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction and spearheaded a suicide bombing campaign against it during a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000. But it has largely respected a year-old unilateral truce agreed by some militant factions.
Palestinian witnesses said a gunfight between Gaza militants and Israeli forces had broken out near the area later hit in the airstrike. The violence, which has intensified in recent weeks, occurred on the eve of the week-long Jewish Passover holiday.