JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli civilian was killed by gunfire along the border with Egypt on Tuesday, the Israeli military said.

The army said in a statement the shooting did not appear to be connected to militant action and that the Israeli and Egyptian militaries were investigating the incident.

An army spokeswoman said the man died of his wounds while being airlifted to an Israeli hospital from the desolate Israel-Egypt border area in the Negev desert where the shooting occurred.

Israeli Channel 2 television said the victim was an employee for a contractor firm hired by the Israeli defence ministry to carry out maintenance work on the border fence.

Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai peninsula bordering Israel, but incidents in recent years at the frontier have been rare.

Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Ori Lewis)