Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian during a raid in southern Gaza this morning, hospital officials and residents said, as the army pressed on with a four-month-old offensive against militants.
An Israeli army spokesman said troops clashed with militants during an operation near the Sufa Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, adding one gunman was hit. He had no further details.
Hospital officials said the dead civilian was a man aged 50. Residents said he was shot and killed by soldiers.
Palestinian security officials and witnesses said a separate Israeli force of around 20 tanks entered northern Gaza, blocking the entrance to the town of Beit Hanoun and exchanging fire with gunmen there. There were no reports of casualties.
The army spokesman said he was unaware of the incident.
Over the past week, Israel has ramped up its offensive in Gaza, which it says is aimed at freeing a soldier abducted by gunmen in a cross-border raid last June and halting rocket attacks on the Jewish state.
Around 250 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, have been killed. The Israeli-Palestinian violence has deepened the gloom in the territory, which is also beset by fighting between rival Palestinian factions that have stirred fears of civil war.