Israeli forces entered the southern Gaza Strip early on Tuesday and carried out searches accompanied by exchanges of fire and explosions, wounding at least five people, medics said. Some 20 armoured vehicles accompanied by bulldozers and two helicopter gunships moved 1.5 kilometres (one mile) inside the Hamas-controlled Strip near the Kissufim crossing point with Israel.
They searched a school and other buildings in Al-Qarara and Wadi Al-Salqa. Israeli troops and Palestinian militants exchanged fire and a number of blasts were heard in the area, AFP reported.
The army said in a statement that during the operation "forces identified several gunmen approaching the soldiers. The force fired at them and identified hitting one of them."
In an earlier operation Israeli aircraft raided the Maghazi refugee camp in the centre of the Gaza Strip overnight, targeting fighters of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). No one was wounded in the strike.
A military spokeswoman in Tel Aviv confirmed that the army had "carried out a routine operation in the area." A member of the DFLP's military wing was killed late on Monday and three other Palestinians were wounded in an Israeli air raid on the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.
