"A short while ago, shots were fired towards IDF forces on routine activity near the border with the southern Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement

Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamic movement which controls the Gaza Strip, confirmed that three Israeli tank shells had been fired towards an "observation post" near the Al-Maghazi refugee camp without causing any casualties.

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the coastal enclave has been under an Israeli blockade for a decade.