Israeli troops have shot dead at least three members of Hamas' armed wing in a clash on the Gaza-Israel border, Hamas and the Israeli army have said.

The incident took place at about 0830 (0530 GMT), north-west of Gaza City.

The Israeli military said four Hamas members were caught trying to plant a bomb on the security barrier between Gaza and Israel and were fired on.

Hamas named those killed as Said Bassam Hellis, 21, Abdel Halim al-Fayyumi, 27 and Mohammed al-Fiqi, 24, AFP said.

The armed wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, said on its website that the trio "were martyred during a jihad (holy war) operation".

Truce 'ended'

The al-Qassam Brigades have said they will retaliate for today's killings, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool said from Ramallah.

The incident happened east of the Al-Bureij refugee camp.

Hamas's armed wing said on Tuesday that it was ending its five-month truce with Israel.

Earlier in the day the group launched a sustained barrage of rockets and mortars into Israel, the first such attack since November.

The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has ruled out a large-scale invasion of Gaza following the rocket attacks but he has promised some military response, our correspondent said.

Saturday's deaths brought to 5,673 the number killed since the outbreak of the Palestinian intifada uprising in 2000, according to AFP.

Most of those killed have been Palestinian.

Photo caption

Hamas press conference in Gaza