Israeli border police killed one man and wounded another when the two tried to cross the Egyptian border into Israel, the army said on Friday.

"Overnight, Israeli border police identified two suspects infiltrating Israel through the Israel-Egypt border," an army spokesman said, without saying whether the two were suspected to be militants or illegal immigrants.

"In accordance with the rules of engagement, the border police sought to stop the infiltration and fired at the suspects. Upon the arrival of Israeli army medics, one of the suspects was pronounced dead," he said. The second man was taken to hospital for treatment.The spokesman noted that "illegal infiltrations through the Egyptian border are used by terror organisations to execute terror attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces."

There were no details available on the identity of the two men. The spokesman said the incident took place in the middle of Israel's 240-kilometre (150-mile) border with the Egyptian Sinai.The border has become a major transit route for economic migrants, asylum seekers and drug smugglers, and Israel has urged Egypt to clamp down on the traffic.

Egyptian border guards often shoot at African migrants who pay smugglers for passage into Israel to look for work. Israel has expedited work on a massive steel barrier along its border with Sinai in a bid to prevent the entry of African migrants, whose numbers in Israel are estimated at more than 60,000.