The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed to Xinhua Wednesday that its soldiers exchanged fire with Palestinian militants near the border of Gaza Strip earlier in the day, killing four militants, reported Xinhua.
According to an IDF announcement sent to Xinhua on Wednesday morning, IDF spotted a number of armed gunmen attempting to place an explosive device near the security fence of central Gaza Strip, who exchanged fire with Israeli forces that arrived at the location.
Throughout the shootout, a number of mortar shells were fired at IDF, and an explosive device was detonated, said the announcement, adding that IDF fired at the armed gunmen and shot dead four of them.
Various weapons and grenades were found on the bodies of the Palestinian gunmen, said the announcement, adding that an IDF soldier was lightly wounded and taken to hospital for medical treatment.
The announcement also said that IDF has recently identified a significant rise in attempts to place explosive devices on the security fence of Gaza Strip, which menace Israeli forces in the area.
Earlier, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said that Israeli Special Forces infiltrated southeast Gaza Strip on Wednesday, drawing clashes with Palestinian militants.
The witnesses said up to 40 Israeli soldiers, backed by three tanks and reconnaissance aircraft, entered east Khan Younis city in southern Gaza Strip, and got in through the security fence that separates the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Israel.
The security sources said clashes erupted between Palestinian fighters and the invading force, and a group of militants were besieged by the Israeli troops.
Wednesday's clash came one day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited IDF's Southern Command, where he was briefed on the preparations being made by a Hamas-led coalition of militant groups.
Israel and Hamas were on an inevitable collision course, Olmert said following the briefing. "It is merely a question of when and not a question of if."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who accompanied Olmert on the visit, added "IDF is prepared, alert, and ready for any possibility. We are looking at this relative calm around and we know that many things are happening under the surface."
Last Tuesday, IDF raided a tunnel dug by Hamas near the Israeli border, which the army said was to facilitate an imminent kidnap.
Over 60 rockets were fired on southern Israel following the raid, in which six Hamas gunmen were killed. Israel launched a number of airstrikes on rocket-launching crews.
The clashes between IDF and Palestinian militants in Gaza raised new concerns that the increasingly shaky five-month-old truce, which was brokered by Egypt on June 19, might collapse.
Both sides had generally honored the truce before the recent clashes, and Israeli officials have voiced willingness to extend the ceasefire after its initial six-month phase which expires next month.