Tel Aviv  - Eight Israeli soldiers were injured late Friday in a mortar attack from the Gaza Strip on an army base in southern Israel, ynet online news agency reported.

The report said six mortars were fired on the base in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, two of which hit the base. The other four landed in fields near the base.

The Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility, but the radical Hamas movement said its al-Qassam Brigades military wing carried out the attack in retaliation for a clash with Israeli forces in Gaza that injured four of its militants.

The Israeli forces said a patrol had discovered Palestinian militants planting bombs at the border post earlier Friday near Khan Younis.

The Palestinians had claimed one militant had died in the clashes, but the report turned out to be false, ynet reported Saturday. (dpa)