By Xinhua
Gaza : The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said Friday that two Hamas gunmen were killed and three others injured by Israeli troops in the early morning.
The gunmen, members of Hamas’s armed wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, died while fighting Israeli troops who were conducting an incursion near the northern town of Beit Hanoun, said Hamas.
The Islamic movement seized control of the coastal territory in June by routing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s forces.
The Israeli army confirmed that the Gaza gunmen were shot in separate incidents as they approached the soldiers who were conducting an operation near Beit Hanoun.
The troops operating near the border fence opened fire and hit two armed Palestinians who were approaching the barrier between Gaza and Israel, said an army spokesman.
The incident occurred one day after heavy Israeli ground and air strikes killed nine Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four gunmen and five civilians.