"During routine activity along the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip, IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldiers identified a group of militants that had been involved in a number of terror attacks against IDF soldiers," a military spokesman told AFP. "The forces fired tanks shells and identified a hit," he said.

Medical sources said the shelling injured a 35-year-old man, who was taken to a nearby hospital. The incident comes after several days of high tension along the border following renewed rocket fire from the coastal enclave into the Jewish state.