(Adds details, background)

GAZA, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed two Gaza gunmen on Saturday as they tried to infiltrate an Israeli community across the border fence from the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli army and Palestinian militant sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said a group of gunmen entered Israel from Gaza and opened fire near the Erez crossing. "An army force then arrived at the scene, shot at them and identified hitting them," she said.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees Gaza militant group said that one of its gunmen and another belonging to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine were killed in a "martyrdom operation against the Zionist entity."

The spokesman said that the operation was intended to enter the Israeli community of Netiv Ha'asara.

AlertNet news is provided by