(Adds Hamas dropping claim of Israeli air strike)

GAZA, March 20 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a Palestinian farmer in the Gaza Strip near the border fence with Israel on Thursday, medical officials said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was looking into the report.

In a separate incident, the Islamist group Hamas said two members of its armed wing were killed in an explosion in a training camp in Gaza City. The group had blamed the blast on an Israeli air strike but later said there had been no attack.

The Gaza medical officials said the 61-year-old farmer was shot dead near the frontier fence east of Khan Younis in the central part of the Hamas-controlled territory.

Palestinian militants often plant explosives near the fence and Israeli patrols treat as suspicious any movement of Palestinians in the frontier area. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Richard Meares)

AlertNet news is provided by