Palestinian Killed in Gaza Near Israel Border

A Palestinian was killed in northern Gaza near the border with Israel on Monday, the DFLP group and medics said, in circumstances disputed by the Israeli army.

Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for Gaza's emergency services, said a man had been killed by Israeli tank fire but his body was so badly disfigured that medics were not immediately able to identify him.

But the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) named the man in a statement as Ahmed Salem al-Aziza and said he had been killed by Israeli fire as he tried to place an explosive device near the border fence.

The Israeli military denied any involvement in the incident, saying the man had been killed when an explosive device he was trying to plant went off prematurely -- in what it referred to as a "work accident."

"The army had nothing to do with it. Initial information indicates two suspects were handling an explosive device which killed one of them," a spokeswoman told AFP.

The area around the Gaza border has been relatively quiet over the past six weeks following a spasm of violence after an August 18 attack on southern Israel top officials blamed on Gaza-based militants left eight Israelis dead.

Israel responded with a series of air strikes on the coastal territory, killing 27 Palestinians as groups fired dozens of rockets into the Jewish state, killing one Israeli.