Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants Sunday morning in armed clashes near the Gaza Strip borders, security and medical sources said.

The bodies of the two fighters were badly harmed, said a spokesman for Palestinian medical services, Adham Abu Selmeya, noting that the Israeli army had apparently hit the gunmen with artillery shells.

Witnesses said they heard sounds of explosions, adding that the Israeli army had fired more than 10 shells during the clashes, which took place to the east of Khan Younis city in southern Gaza Strip.

The killing of the two militants, who Islamic Jihad movement claims belong to its military wing, came amid a new wave of cross- border violence which escalated for recent days. Palestinian militants increased firing rockets into Israel and the Israeli army stepped up retaliatory attacks in Gaza, targeting military sites of Hamas for the first time in nearly two years.

Over the past few days, Hamas, which controls Gaza, renewed its commitment to the fragile ceasefire after the end of Israel's military incursion into Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.