Israelis shoot dead Gaza militant

Militants threatened revenge after Sunday's deaths

Israeli troops have shot dead an armed Palestinian militant near the border with Gaza.

The Israeli military said small arms and tank fire were used against the man after he shot at an army patrol near the fence surrounding the Gaza Strip.

The man was the third Palestinian killed by Israeli troops in two days.

On Sunday, two members of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades were killed during an Israeli army raid in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

An al-Aqsa commander in Bethlehem, identified as Abu Udai, told the Israeli news website Ynet that Sunday's deaths would be avenged by rockets fired at the Israeli city of Tel Aviv from the West Bank.

"We tell the occupiers, our response will be crushing and the Israelis will regret their crimes," the commander was quoted as saying.

Israeli forces carry out frequent arrest raids in the West Bank.

The Israeli military said soldiers opened fire when the militants tried to escape arrest and their car crashed into a wall. A third man was arrested.