Two Palestinian militants have been killed by an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian and Israeli officials say, according to BBC News.

The Israeli army said that one of the dead was Ahmad Zaanin, a militant who fired rockets during the funeral of former PM Ariel Sharon last week.

A Hamas radio station said the two men were members of Islamic Jihad. The Islamist group has been blamed by Israel for a recent surge in cross-border rocket attacks.

The Israeli military said the overnight strike in Gaza had been necessary "to eliminate an imminent threat to the lives of Israeli civilians". It said Zaanin had been behind several recent rocket and shooting attacks in southern Israel.

Locals in Gaza were quoted as saying that Zaanin and another militant - a relative of him - had been sitting in a parked car when it was hit by a missile.

There has been intermittent violence along the border since a ceasefire ended an eight-day conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza in November 2012.

Israel withdrew its troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip in 2005 under the orders of Sharon.