Israeli forces clash with militants in south Gaza

GAZA, Sep 9 (Reuters) Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian militants after entering a village in the southern Gaza Strip today, Palestinian witnesses said.

One Islamic Jihad gunman was shot and critically wounded in the clashes in the village of Khozaa east of Khan Younis, medics said.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli forces did not open fire at the militants.

Israeli forces have been moving in and out of the area in recent days as part of a broader offensive launched after Gaza militants seized an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid on June 25.

The Israeli offensive has killed around 210 Palestinians, about half of them civilians.

In a separate incident in the occupied West Bank, an unidentified group of attackers set fire to the Qalqilya offices of the YMCA, a Christian association that runs youth programmes, Palestinian security officials said.

The governor of Qalqilya described the attackers, believed to be part of an Islamic group, as fanatics.

REUTERS PDM HS1704