Israel forces fight gunmen near key Gaza crossing

GAZA, July 8 (Reuters) Israeli troops backed by helicopters clashed with gunmen early today inside Gaza near the strip's key commercial crossing, and several Palestinians were wounded, witnesses and medics said.

The clash took place on the edge of a Hamas stronghold near the Karni crossing, the first time fighting has broken out in the area since Israel launched an offensive more than a week ago to free a soldier and halt cross-border rocket fire.

An Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile at gunmen, witnesses said.

An Israeli army spokesman said there was an exchange of fire taking place in the area, but added it was not a large-scale operation akin to a major push in the north, where tanks and troops this week took over former Jewish settlements.

Israeli forces have also established a hold in southern Gaza in the strip's disused international airport. Karni is in the northern half of Gaza, a little to the south of Gaza City.

At least 38 Palestinians, the majority of them militants, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, according to Palestinian medics and officials.

The incursion has piled pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government, already reeling from a Western aid embargo. Hamas militants were among the factions who seized Corporal Gilad Shalit during a raid from Gaza on June 25.

Reuters PDS VP0735