Israeli troops and armour crossed into the central Gaza Strip yesterday, killing five militants from the Islamist Hamas group, which controls the coastal Palestinian territory.

Israeli forces exchanged fire with gunmen in al-Maghazi refugee camp, and militants said they also fired rocket-propelled grenades at the troops.

Israeli aircraft attacked several militants who came close to troops during the raid, an Israeli military spokeswoman said. Palestinian medics said two militants were killed in the air strike and a Hamas television cameraman was wounded. Palestinian medical workers said the bodies of three other militants arrived in hospital, apparently killed in the ground clashes. Five of those killed by Israel belonged to Hamas, medics said. The army spokeswoman said soldiers had carried out a routine operation about a kilometre inside Gaza to search for militants, including those involved in rocket attacks.