Israeli tank shelling injured three Palestinians Wednesday east of Gaza City, medics said.

The three hurt in the incident, near the Karni crossing, were not identified.

An Israeli military spokesman said that "an IDF force fired tank rounds toward a number of suspicious individuals who approached the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip.

"The men were approaching the fence with the intention of planting explosive devices," he added. "The force confirmed that the suspects had been hit and there were no injuries to IDF soldiers."

The incident came hours after Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes in southern Gaza.

The first targeted a poultry farm in Khan Younis, injuring a young Palestinian man and damaging the farm, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Warplanes targeted a tunnel in Rafah along the Egypt-Gaza border about 15 minutes later, the correspondent said. The tunnel was destroyed and others were damaged. There were no reports of injuries in that attack.

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad said it fired mortar shells at Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers in central Gaza. The Al-Quds Brigades said its attack targeted the Wad As-Salqa area.

The Israeli army said in a statement that its air force, in response to the firing of rockets, "struck a weapons manufacturing site and a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were identified."

The military added: "The IDF holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for maintaining the calm in the Gaza Strip and for any terrorist activity emanating from it. The IDF will also continue to respond harshly to any attempt to use terror against the State of Israel."