Israeli tank fire wounded three Palestinians near central Gaza's border with the Jewish state on Friday, a Palestinian medical official said.

"Three farmers, around 20 years of age, were moderately wounded by a tank shell and taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza City," health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP, adding the men had been working in fields east of east of El-Bureij refugee camp when they were hurt.

An army spokeswoman said no such incident was known to the military.

Under the terms of a November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, Palestinians are supposed to have access to arable land in a buffer zone up to 100 metres (yards) from the border fence.

Israel says its soldiers open fire on Palestinians who come closer than that.