The Israeli army fired at least one shell into the Al-Bureij neighbourhood in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing a woman and wounding five people, Palestinian medics have said.
Medics said the woman was killed when the shell hit her house yesterday. Five others were wounded were taken to a nearby hospital.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the incident, saying that "suspects were identified coming close to the (border) fence and a force nearby opened fire."
She had no further details, but the Ynet website reported that Israeli forces had targeted a group of militants trying to fire mortars into Israel.
Israel launched a devastating assault on the Palestinian enclave in December 2008 aimed at halting rocket fire from the besieged coastal Strip.
Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the 22-day war.
After a year of quiet following the assault, Gaza militants have stepped up the cross-border rocket fire, with more than 60 rockets and mortar rounds striking Israel since January, the military says.