Two armed Palestinians were killed Sunday by the Israeli army in the north of the Gaza Strip as they tried to sneak into the Jewish settlement of Dougit, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The killings averted an attack against Israeli civilians and soldiers, the spokesman said in a statement.

He said the two were shot dead by Israeli soldiers.

In early October, two members of the armed wing of the extremist Palestinian movement Hamas managed to get past tight security around the Alei Sinai settlement near Dougit and killed two Israelis and wounded 15 before being killed themselves.

Sunday's deaths bring the number of people killed in the Palestinian uprising to 976 since it started in September last year. Of those, 765 were Palestinians and 189 were Israelis. Nampa-Sapa-AFP