Israeli air strikes kill six Gaza militants

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes killed six Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical workers said, amid Egyptian efforts to broker a truce between Israel and militant groups in the Hamas-controlled territory.

The Islamic Jihad militant group said five of its members were killed when a missile struck their car near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis.

Medical workers dragged the still smoking body of one of the gunmen from the wreckage.

A second air strike destroyed a car traveling in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah, killing one militant from the Army of Islam, a Palestinian group with a shared ideology with al Qaeda.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the air strikes targeted vehicles carrying militants.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the attacks were an attempt to ruin efforts to reach a ceasefire, and vowed revenge.

The truce, which officials said could be announced within days, is meant to end rocket and mortar bomb strikes against southern Israel and Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi, Writing by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, Editing by Ralph Boulton)