JERUSALEM, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israel Defense Forces(IDF) troops carried out military operation in southern Gaza Strip against "terror threats" at dawn on Friday, an IDF spokesperson was quoted by local media as saying.

    The spokesperson said that the force used tanks and other armored vehicles, adding that the operation was aimed at clearing what he called "terror threats."

    There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Palestinian sources reported that fire clashes broke out between gunmen and Israeli troops, with the help of choppers and tanks.

    Gaza sources added that two Israeli choppers arrived at the scene to assist the troops, and were followed by IDF tanks entering the Strip.

    A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees' military wing said that his organization's men were not far from the troops when clashes broke out, and even managed to fire a shell at the Israeli forces.

    Thursday night, Palestinian sources said that IDF forces, accompanied by helicopters, operated in the central and northern Gaza Strip but the IDF said helicopters fired flares in the area due to fears of a possible "terror attack" near the border fence.

    Tensions between Israel and Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June after routing Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah forces, have increased sharply in recent days.

    IDF ground troops staged limited incursion into central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, a day after Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip wounded 69 Israeli soldiers, but the military said the incursion was a low-scale routine operation.

    Meanwhile, the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been under closure since midnight Wednesday, due to the Jewish New Year holiday. The Israel Defense Forces closed crossings from the West Bank and Gaza Strip into Israel until security assessments were made.

    On Thursday, Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car in a Gaza refugee camp, wounding two members of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) movement.