The Israeli army said an officer and a conscript were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen against an Israeli military patrol. Two other soldiers were wounded. Two Palestinians, one a ten-year-old boy, were also wounded, Gaza officials said.

The militant Islamist group Hamas, which rules the enclave, said that its men had fired on Israeli soldiers who crossed into the Strip.

The clash did not appear to be directly linked to the current diplomatic impasse between Israel, the Palestinians and the United States over Israeli settlement of occupied West Bank land and stalled efforts to relaunch peace talks.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Hamas has largely held its fire since a costly three-week war with Israel in the opening days of 2009 in which some 1,400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, and 13 Israelis, mainly soldiers, were killed.

Israel said it was holding Hamas accountable for the violence, which made further retaliatory action likely.

Hamas took part in the fighting but said its gunmen acted to repel an Israeli incursion.