Israeli forces have killed a leader of Islamic Jihad group in the West Bank and wounded three people during an incursion into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources and witnesses said on Friday.
Meanwhile, Palestinian gunners fired three rockets from Gaza Strip into southern Israel early on Friday, slightly injuring one person and causing minor damage, a military source said.
Raed Abu al-Adass, 26, was found dead late on Thursday after an exchange of fire with troops in the old town of Nablus in the northern West Bank. Another Islamic Jihad man was detained and a passer-by injured in the clash, the source said.
An army spokesman said a "special unit operating in Nablus surrounded a building containing suspects and called on them to surrender. When they saw a man flee the building they fired at him.
According to AFP, the army said the two activists "were following the orders of Islamic Jihad in Syria and were linked to an attempt in March to carry out a suicide attack in Israel that was foiled after the arrest of a third member of the group in Tulkarem" west of Nablus.
Elsewhere, Israeli infantry and armour moved in to southern Gaza early on Friday, occupying the former Rafah international airport and neighbouring houses, witnesses said. Three Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of fire, one of them seriously, and 10 others were held for questioning.
An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the incursion, calling it a "routine operation" against armed Palestinian groups in the area.
