An Israeli drone strike killed two Palestinians and wounded another in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian medics said.

"Two people were killed and one was injured in a drone attack east of the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip," emergency services spokesman Adham Abu Selmiya told AFP, adding the strike occurred near the border fence with Israel.

Earlier he had said the explosion was a result of artillery shells.

The Israeli armed forces had no immediate comment. However, military sources said the army had targeted militants who were trying to fire rockets into Israel.

Selmiya identified the two men as Mohammed Said Abu Jazar and Kamal Hamdan Muammar, both aged 28 from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, he said.

On Sunday a rocket fired from Gaza struck open fields in southern Israel causing no damage or injuries. It was the first fired from Gaza since June 16 but the border between Gaza and Israel has been largely calm in recent months.

In early April, tensions ratcheted up after a rocket-propelled grenade fired from Gaza struck an Israeli school bus, killing a teenager. This had followed an attack by Israel killing 8 Palestinians in Gaza, allegedly members of the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, the Al Quds Brigades

Israel responded after with a series of air strikes that killed at least 19 Palestinians in the deadliest violence since Israel's devastating 22-day Operation Cast Lead on the Palestinian territory in 2008-2009.

The violence raised fears of another such assault, but on April 10 the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip declared a return to the truce that ended Cast Lead in January 2009, and the calm has largely held since then.