A Palestinian boy was killed when Israeli helicopter gunship opened fire at Palestinian areas in southeast the Gaza Strip, medial sources and witnesses said Thursday.

The 11-year-old boy was killed immediately after a bullet hit him, the sources said. The shooting took place near the security fence separating Gaza and Israel.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian militants and Israeli troops exchanged fire in the area. The clashes erupted after Israeli forces in tanks and bulldozers rolled for tens of meters in the Palestinian side of the fence.

There were no report of casualties in the clashes, in which the militants, believed to be members of the Popular Resistance Committees, detonated explosive devices when the tanks approached.

On Tuesday, three Israeli soldiers were slightly injured when militants set off a bomb by the fence. An Israeli soldier was moderately wounded in a similar incident last month. The armed wing of Islamic Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, claimed responsibility for the incident.