Israeli troops kill four in Gaza

The bodies were riddled with bullets

Israeli troops have killed four Palestinians near the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said they were trying to cross from Gaza into Egypt overnight and were suspected of being militants or weapons smugglers.

Reports are coming in of a Palestinian car exploding on the road between Rafah and Khan Younis.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known. Witnesses say an Israeli unmanned aircraft had been in the area.

At least three members of militant umbrella group called the Popular Resistance Committees were wounded in the blast, reports say.

Israeli troops opened fire at the group of Palestinians near the border at about midnight. Three bodies were recovered soon afterwards and a fourth was recovered at daybreak, sources said.

It is not yet known if the dead men were members of any Palestinian militant group.

Palestinian militants have been waging a four-year intifada or uprising against Israel, whose forces have occupied the Gaza Strip and West Bank since 1967.