World Bulletin/News Desk

The Israeli army said Wednesday that it had urged Israeli famers in communities near the border with Gaza to leave the area following an attack on an Israeli border patrol, which was followed by Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks on targets in the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli army has "instructed farmers in border communities to leave the area for their own safety," military spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted.

Lerner had said earlier Wednesday that an Israeli patrol had come under "sniper fire" from the Gaza Strip, denouncing the incident as "an outrageous act of aggression."

He later said that an Israeli soldier had been wounded in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian resistance faction Hamas, said that one of its fighters in the southern Gaza Strip had been killed by Israeli artillery.

In a brief statement, the Brigades announced that Tayseer al-Sameeri had been killed in the town of Al-Qararah east of Khan Younis.

Medical sources told The Anadolu Agency that al-Sameeri had been killed by Israeli artillery that had targeted farmland in the area.

The Israeli army said its airstrikes and artillery fire had been in response to the attack on army personnel patrolling the border. 

Minister's visit

Meanwhile, Palestinian government ministers will visit the Gaza Strip on Sunday, one government minister has said.

"A number of cabinet ministers will arrive in the Gaza Strip on Sunday," Public Works Minister Mufeed al-Hasayneh said in a press release on Wednesday.

He said ministers would assess the needs of their respective ministries in the blockaded coastal enclave.

On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah formed a committee to oversee the management of Gaza border crossings for the Palestinian government.

In April, rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal that led to the formation of a unity government two months later.

The government, however, has yet to assume responsibility for the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Palestinian resistance factions signed a cease-fire deal with Israel on August 26, ending a devastating, 51-day Israeli military onslaught on the Gaza Strip in July and August.

The Israeli offensive left more than 2,160 Palestinians dead – the vast majority of them civilians – and some 11,000 injured.

At least 73 Israelis – 68 soldiers and five civilians – were also killed during this summer's conflict.