Egyptian border guards on Tuesday killed two Egyptian men suspected of trying to smuggle tobacco into the Gaza Strip from Egypt, security sources said.

Selim Hassan Mosleh, 32, and Salman Eid Salem, 23, had come close to the barbed wire fence along the Egypt-Gaza border and were shot dead after they failed to heed warnings from the Egyptian border guards, the sources added.

Under an earlier agreement with Israel, Egypt has deployed some 750 border guards along the Egypt-Gaza border to help maintain law and order as part of efforts to coordinate the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in September.

Prices of basic commodities in the Gaza Strip are much higher than those in Egypt.

Earlier in the day, Israel's security cabinet approved a proposal put forward by Egypt to re-open the Rafah Crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border under the supervision of European inspectors, Israel Radio reported.

However, disputes are still unsettled on the authority of the inspectors as Palestinians consider them advisers while Israel wants them to have veto power.

Source: Xinhua