Israeli troops killed two Palestinians, one of them a 55-year-old civilian, during an operation to arrest a known arms smuggler in a Gaza refugee camp.
Israeli forces surrounded the house of Bassam Abu Libdeh, well-known in the Rafah refugee camp as a weapons runner.
The troops called on him and his family to leave the house. Abu Libdeh's wife and children left the house, but he stayed inside and a gun battle erupted, the residents said.
During the fighting, two Apache helicopter gunships fired heavy machine-guns and Hassan Abu Khatleh, 55, was killed by a high-calibre bullet wound to the chest, hospital officials said.
At the end of the operation, the forces demolished Abu Libdeh's house. There were reports that Abu Libdeh was arrested.
Meanwhile, military sources said they surrounded the home of a known arms dealer in the Rafah refugee camp - not far from the Gaza-Egypt border. The smuggler, whose name the army would not confirm, fled the house with two other men, one of them armed.
Forces chased the men and killed one, the sources said. The two others, including the fugitive smuggler, were arrested, they added. The sources said they demolished the arms smuggler's home.
The Israeli army often enters the Rafah refugee camp to blow up tunnels used by Palestinian arms dealers to smuggle weapons from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. However, it is rare for the army to attempt to arrest an arms dealer.
Israel demolishes the homes of Palestinian militants and fugitives in an attempt to deter Palestinians from attacking Israelis. Palestinians condemn the policy as a violation of human rights.