Four dead in Israeli raid in Gaza

Militants loyal to Hamas have been taking on Israeli troops

Four members of a security force of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas have been killed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials say the men died in a strike by a pilotless Israeli aircraft on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israeli officials said two men had been killed in an exchange of fire and other gunmen were targeted from the air.

The deaths bring to eight the number of Palestinians killed during an Israeli incursion which began on Saturday.

Reports say the Hamas militants killed on Monday belonged to a special forces unit of the Palestinian interior ministry, which is controlled by Hamas.

The Israeli army said it entered the Shijaia neighbourhood, a Hamas stronghold, to hunt for explosives used by militants to attack patrols moving along the nearby border fence.

More than 200 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have died since Israel launched a wide offensive in Gaza two months ago, after militants captured an Israeli soldier.

One Israeli soldier has been killed in the offensive, after being shot accidentally by fire from his own side.