During the past 24 hours, clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian gunmen left behind at least five dead militants in Gaza and the West Bank, military sources from Israel informed on Saturday.

Early Saturday, two armed men crossed the fence erected on the border between Gaza and Israel and attacked an army outpost located in the northern part of the salient.

According to an Israeli army spokesman, the two Palestinians took advantage of the thick fog and managed to cross into the neighbouring territory before opening fire on a District Coordination Office (DCO).

A guard returned fire and the assailants fled towards nearby villages. Several soldiers from an infantry division followed the gunmen and shot them dead after a brief fire exchange, two servicemen being also injured.

The Israeli military said the attackers were heavily armed and were possessing a considerable amount of explosives.

The incident was followed by a barrage of rockets fired at Israeli territories adjacent to the Erez crossing point, as three militant groups from Gaza claimed responsibility for the morning attacks.

In another incident, several soldiers were lightly wounded after an improvised explosive device went off near the meeting point of the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt borders.

In other developments, three members of the Islamic Jihad movement were killed and four persons wounded in the West Bank when Israeli security forces opened fire on a vehicle in Jenin. According to witnesses, one of the killed militants was a regional commander of the radical group.