A Palestinian was killed by Israeli tank fire in northern Gaza Strip on Friday, Palestinian witnesses and medics said.

Witnesses said that a Palestinian was killed by Israeli tank fire near the northern town of Beit Lahya, where Israel carried out deadly attacks on Thursday, leaving more than a dozen people dead.

Earlier in the day, Israel renewed air raids against Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza Strip, killing one militant from the ruling Hamas movement, medics said, adding that two others were wounded in the raids.

The Friday attacks came after a bloody day of clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip that left an Israeli soldier and 19 Palestinians dead including several civilians.

The Israeli army has expanded a ground operation in the strip to rescue an Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian militants on June 25 and stop Palestinian rocket firing.

The Israeli security cabinet authorized the army on Wednesday to set up a "security zone" in northern Gaza Strip to prevent rocket fire after a homemade rocket hit the center of Israel's coastal city of Ashkelon for the first time on Tuesday evening.

It was the furthest north in Israel that a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the strip has reached.

Source: Xinhua