(Adds statement from militant group, paragraph 4)

GAZA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants on Monday near the Israeli-built border fence on the Gaza frontier, ambulance workers said.

The Israeli army said troops opened fire at "two armed terrorists crawling towards the fence" under the cover of darkness in the northern Gaza Strip.

The gunfire detonated explosives the two men were carrying, the army said in a statement.

Palestinian ambulance workers said they recovered two bodies from the scene. Palestinian militant group the Popular Resistance Committees identified the two as its members and said in a statement they had embarked on a "mission" against Israel.

Israel and several Palestinian militant groups declared a Gaza ceasefire in November, a truce that ended an Israeli military offensive in the territory. Some militant factions have kept up sporadic cross-border rocket attacks despite the truce.

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