Five Palestinian fighters were killed during Israeli military incursions in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Friday, Islamist armed groups said.
A soldier was also wounded in the clashes in southern Gaza, the Israeli army said.
Three members of the Ezzidine Al-Qassam Brigades were killed in an air strike called in support of Israeli ground operations near the city of Rafah, the armed wing of the Hamas movement said in a statement.
The men were involved in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops some 1.5 kilometers (one mile) inside the Gaza trip, witnesses said. At least three more Palestinians were wounded, medics said.
A military spokesman said the soldier was wounded when militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at an armoured bulldozer during an Israeli incursion into southern Gaza.
In addition, two fighters of the Al Quds Brigade were killed near El Bureij, in central Gaza, where an Israeli military operation continued for a second day, the Islamic Jihad's armed wing said.
The latest deaths brought to at least 483 the number of people killed since Israel and the Palestinian leadership relaunched peace talks at a US-hosted conference in November. The vast majority of the dead were Gaza militants, according to an AFP count.
The latest deaths brought to at least 483 the number of people killed since Israel and the Palestinian leadership relaunched peace talks at a US-hosted conference in November. The vast majority of the dead were Gaza militants, according to an AFP count.