* Three members of Islamic Jihad killed in air strike
* Israel says militants were preparing to fire rocket
(Adds Israeli military comment, background)
GAZA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike in the central Gaza Strip on Monday killed three gunmen belonging to the Islamic Jihad group, Palestinian medics said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said a group of militants preparing to fire a rocket at Israel had been targeted, and that the air strike caused an explosion and a secondary blast.
Israel often carries out strikes against militant targets in Gaza, which is controlled by the Islamist group Hamas. These strikes generally target tunnels used to smuggle in weapons, or the gunmen who Israel says have fired 150 rockets so far this year.
Ambulance workers and medical officials said they had recovered three bodies from the site of an explosion that occurred after darkness fell outside Bureij refugee camp, near the Israel-Gaza frontier.
Hamas television reports said the blast had been caused either by an Israeli air strike or cross-border tank fire.
The latest violence underscored the significance of U.S.-backed Middle East peace talks launched this month, which diplomats were trying to rescue from falling apart over a dispute over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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