Gaza/Tel Aviv - Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinian militants in the south-eastern Gaza Strip near the border with Israel Friday, killing one and injuring at least two others, witnesses said.

The gunmen clashing with the Israeli soldiers north-east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis were members of the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees faction, Palestinian media reports said.

Palestinian militants responded by firing three mortar shells into Israel.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

The latest clash comes after the sides made attempts over the past week to restore a fragile informal truce between the radical Islamic Hamas ruling Gaza, which has been thrown into doubt since a November 4 clash near the Gaza border with Israel that left at least five Hamas militants dead and sparked a new wave of rocket and mortar attacks at southern Israel.

Since Thursday last week, the rocket attacks had dropped again to an average of one a day.

Israel had responded to the new wave of violence by slapping a near-total closure on Gaza, preventing all but the most basic humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. (dpa)