Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed on Friday in a clash in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.
"An officer and a soldier of Israel Defense Forces were killed, one person was seriously wounded and one slightly injured in a shootout with militants who planted explosives near the border fence in the southern part of the Gaza Strip," the Israel Defense Forces said in a press release.
"Upon seeing the terrorists... the military opened fire and killed two of them."
Health sources on the Gaza Strip said earlier in the day two militants were killed in the shootout.
A spokesman for the Hamas military wing Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaidah, said the clash took place on Palestinian territory.
"The Israeli troops crossed some 500 meters into the Palestinian territory and were met by our fighters," he said.
TEL AVIV / GAZA, March 26 (RIA Novosti)
