GAZA, Jan 18 (Reuters) - An Israeli aircraft and tank strike killed at least one Palestinian close to the border fence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics said.

Residents of the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun said Israeli planes and tanks had fired into the area. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed there had been an attack, but gave no further details.

Palestinian medics said a second man was critically wounded. Police of the Palestinian Islamist faction Hamas had said earlier that both men were killed in the incident.

Citing attempts to attack its border patrols, Israel has declared the frontier area a no-go zone for Gaza Palestinians.

It was the first deadly military strike in the Gaza Strip since Dec. 30, when an Israeli aircraft killed the leader of an al Qaeda-inspired faction. (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Writing by Maayan Lubell)