Two Palestinian fighters have been shot dead as they attempted to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli soldier was also wounded when fighting broke out on Saturday after the two fighters opened fire on an Israeli office at the Erez border crossing in the north of the territory.

A Israeli spokesman confirmed that soldiers from the Golani regiment shot the two Palestinians.

The Popular Resistance Committees and a group linked to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) claimed responsibility for what they call a "joint attack on Israeli territory".

The dead men were identified as Khader Aokal, 22, a fighter from the Popular Resistance Committees, and Mohammed Saker, 22, from the DFLP.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza said that the fighters had intended to enter the Israeli community of Netiv Ha'asara, north of the Gaza frontier fence.

The two groups, along with a third, have also claimed responsibility for an attack in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday during which two Palestinian fighters were killed by Israeli troops.

An Israeli army spokesman said the men used a ladder to scale the fence and a rope to lower themselves to the ground before making their way to the Israeli military's co-ordination office.

Deadly clashes

Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed the local leader of the Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian security sources said.

They also said that another Islamic Jihad fighter was wounded on Saturday in a raid by undercover troops.

An Israeli military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said soldiers and paramilitary border police had fired at a vehicle in which three fighters were traveling.

"A special forces unit operating in Jenin spotted three armed men in a car and opened fire at them," she said.

"The three occupants of the vehicle were hit. They were in possession of two assault rifles - a Kalashnikov and an M16 - and ammunition".

Boy shot dead

On Friday, an Arab-Israeli boy and a Palestinian fighter were shot dead during an exchange of fire between Israeli security forces and Islamic Jihad fighters in the West Bank.

Mahmoud Karnawi, 13, was visiting a relative, an Islamic Jihad fighter in Seida, near Tulkarem, when Israeli forces encircled the house they were in on Friday, sources said.

Neighbors said he was hit in crossfire.

Tariq Mulhem, another 24-year-old Islamic Jihad fighter, was killed and Karnawi's relative arrested.

An army spokeswoman said Israeli forces found two Kalashnikov rifles, military vests and ammunition during the operation.

PHOTO CAPTION

The body of one of the Palestinian fighters was picked up by an Israeli sapper robot [AFP]