Israeli tanks opened fire in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday morning, wounding one Palestinian, medical sources in the coastal enclave said.

The Israeli military said it had opened fire on a so called "group of militants" who were close to the border fence that separates Gaza from the Israeli entity.

"During routine activity along the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip, IDF (Israel Defence Force) soldiers identified a group of militants that had been involved in a number of terror attacks against IDF soldiers," a military spokesman told AFP.

"The forces fired tanks shells and identified a hit," he said.

Medical sources said the shelling injured a 35-year-old man, who was taken to a nearby hospital.

The incident comes after several days of high tension along the border following renewed rocket fire from the coastal enclave into the Israeli state.

The Israeli military has responded with a series of retaliatory air strikes across the Gaza Strip, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned resistance combatants in the area not to "test" the will of the Israeli state.