AFP - Israeli forces wounded at least four Palestinians on Saturday in a firefight in the southern Gaza Strip and two more in the West Bank as they tried to cross into Israel, Palestinian medics said.

The condition of two of the wounded in Gaza was described as "serious."

The clash took place in the eastern town of Khan Yunis, according to witnesses.

Two of those hurt were said to be members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the other two members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the armed wing of Hamas, which rules Gaza.

The PFLP and the Brigade issued a joint statement saying their men had "attacked four Israeli army jeeps with rocket-propelled grenades, and they responded with machine-gun fire from an assault helicopter and tank fire."

An army spokesman said "Israeli soldiers spotted silhouettes approaching the security barrier separating the Gaza Strip (from Israel), and opened fire at them."

The spokesman added that a soldier had been wounded in the same area on Thursday when a remote-controlled bomb exploded.

In the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, two brothers were shot and wounded by Israeli forces as they tried to infiltrate into Israel, a hospital source said.

Ghaleb Driss, 23, was seriously wounded in the head, and brother Sliman, 25, wounded in the hand. The hospital officials said they had not been armed.

The army did not have any immediate comment on the incident, which took place near Yatta, southeast of Hebron.