An Israeli tank opened fire Thursday on a Hamas position in Gaza, in response to shots coming from Palestine territory, the Israeli army said.

"In response to the shots fired earlier today at IDF forces carrying out routine activities near the border fence with the southern Gaza Strip, an IDF tank targeted a post belonging to the terror organisation Hamas," the Israeli Defence Forces said in statement.

The incident took place in the south of the Gaza Strip, it said, providing no other details.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side.

Israel launched three military offensives against Gaza that lcaused the death of Hundreds of civilians since Hamas took control of the strip. A fragile ceasefire has largely held since their last confrontation in 2014.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.