GAZA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - A 4-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by a stray bullet fired by Israeli forces near his home in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian witnesses and medics said.

The boy was hit in the head when soldiers guarding Israeli bulldozers clearing farmland near the Palestinian town of Khan Younis fired warning shots apparently aimed at keeping residents away from the area, witnesses said.

The army had no immediate comment on the incident, which occurred while it pressed a major offensive in the northern Gaza Strip after a rocket attack killed two toddlers in an Israeli border town on Wednesday.

Israeli troops have killed 62 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, in five days of fighting in the Jabalya refugee camp and neighbouring towns.