Three Palestinians killed by troops

Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians in two separate incidents today in the Gaza Strip, the army and Palestinian doctors said.

Soldiers shot toward two suspicious Palestinians approaching an Israeli-controlled area near the Karni crossing with Israel, the army said. The shots hit the two men and set off a bomb apparently carried by one of them, the army said.

After nightfall, Israeli troops near the Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam in the southern Gaza Strip shot toward two Palestinians walking in a forbidden area, the army said.

They were carrying what appeared to be an explosive device, the army said.

One of the Palestinians was killed and the other seriously injured, Palestinian doctors confirmed.

Relatives of the men told the doctors they were located near their homes in the town of Rafah when soldiers shot them.

Rafah has been a frequent flashpoint for violence in the four years of fighting between the sides.

Israeli troops often conduct operations in the area in an effort to uncover tunnels under the nearby border with Egypt that are used by Palestinian militants to smuggle weapons.