Israeli forces have killed two Hamas fighters in exchanges of fire during a brief army incursion into the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said.

 Theshooting started after several Israeli armoured vehicles and tanks crossed several hundreds of metres east of the town of Bir el-Balah in central Gaza on Tuesday, the sources said.

Two members of Hamas's armed wing, identified as Abdullah Louh and Yehya Borrak, were killed in the exchange of fire that came as both sides have observed a relative lull in the conflict in and around Gaza for three weeks.

Two civilians were also injured in the same incident, sources said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed that troops "indentified and hit" two armed men during the incursion. Several other Palestinians were detained for questioning, she said.

Tuesday's deaths bring to 363 the number of people killed since Israelis and Palestinians revived their peace talks at a US meeting last November, according to an AFP count.

At least 6,326 people have been killed since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians, according to a separate AFP tally.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli Armoured Personnel Carriers are driven back into Israel after an operation at central Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel March 31, 2008

Al-Jazeera