GAZA - Israeli troops and armour crossed into the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing three Hamas gunmen in clashes, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said.

They said the gunmen were killed in Gaza’s al-Maghazi refugee camp. Two other gunmen were wounded, medics said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

The Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza last month after routing the Fatah forces of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, but has carried out armed incursions and air strikes in efforts to stop Palestinian militants firing rockets into the Jewish state.

On Wednesday, BBC journalist Alan Johnston was freed after being held for 114 days as a hostage in Gaza. Hamas struck a deal with the Al Qaeda-inspired clan group that kidnapped him in March.