Six Palestinians have been killed and six others have been wounded by Israeli fire in sudden, late-night clashes interrupted by air raids east of Khan Younis to the south of Gaza Strip.
Sunday's exchange of fire came as Israeli forces carried out a ground incursion in the besieged enclave.
The Palestinian Interior Ministry declared a state of alert following the incident.
The spokesperson for the minister Iyad al-Bazem said a “security incident” had left “a number” dead and wounded.
Shortly after the exchange of fire, the air raid was carried out east of the city of Khan Younis.
Ashraf al-Qidra, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said in a statement the six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack.
Al-Qidra identified the victims as Nour al-Din Muhammad Salama Baraka, 37, Mohammed Majid Mousa al-Qara, 23, Alaeddin Mohammed Qweider, 22, Mustafa Hassan Abu Odeh, 21, and Mahmoud Atallah Musbeh, 25.
A Hamas official said on Sunday a group of its men was fired at from a passing car belonging to Israeli forces and Hamas members gave chase.
The PIC reporter said that during the chase Israeli aircraft fired over 40 missiles in the area where the incident took place.
The Israeli army said in a brief statement that: "During Israeli forces operational activity in the Gaza Strip, an exchange of fire evolved."
Further details were not immediately available.
