Israeli air strikes and troops killed five Palestinian fighters in Gaza on Friday, armed faction and medical officials said.
Two Israeli air strikes in the Shujayah neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City killed three fighters and wounded five, medical officials said as Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters clashed on the ground.
Two of the dead and two of the wounded belonged to the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad. The third dead was named as Mahmud Hasouna, 25, from the armed wing of Hamas.
According to AFP, an Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that two air strikes were called in against gunmen approaching an Israeli force, which thrust into the Shujayah area in an incursion early on Friday.
Earlier ground clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters left two Gaza gunmen dead -- one from Hamas near Jabaliya in northern Gaza and the other from the rival Islamic Jihad in southern Gaza, medics said.
An army spokesman said one gunman was hit in southern Gaza and two were hit in the north when gunmen approached Israeli soldiers. Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the northern clashes, he said.
Two soldiers were lightly wounded in the northern clashes, he said.
