An Israeli tank fired shells towards the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, following an attack on an Israeli patrol, the army announced.

"A short while ago, shots were fired towards IDF forces on routine activity near the border with the southern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement

In response an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tank "targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip".

Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed that three Israeli tank shells had been fired towards an "observation post" near the Al-Maghazi refugee camp without causing any casualties.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the coastal enclave has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade.

source: AFP