Israeli troops launched a raid inside the Gaza Strip yesterday and clashed with Hamas security forces, Hamas security officials in the coastal territory said.

An Israeli army spokesman had no immediate comment. It was the first reported armed clash between Israeli and Palestinian forces since a June 19 ceasefire.

"Qassam fighters are engaging in violent armed clashes with a Zionist (Israeli) force that raided east of central Gaza Strip," the Hamas statement said.

Palestinian residents in the area of the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip reported seeing Israeli soldiers about 300 metres inside Gaza.

They also reported hearing shots fired from Israeli military vehicles positioned on the Israeli side of the border fence and the buzz of unmanned drones overhead.

The residents said Hamas gunmen had responded by firing at the troops. Residents said that one of the Israeli drones fired a missile into the area where the firing had occurred.

Palestinian medical workers said three gunmen were wounded by shrapnel from the Israeli missile.

The armed clash is the first since the truce was declared on June 19 and which has largely held between Israel and the Islamist Hamas group which controls the coastal enclave.

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