The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday withdrew from the southern Gaza Strip after troops and tanks had entered the strip on Monday to perform arrests and sweeps for militants. Four Palestinian militants were arrested during the raid.

The operations were carried out in agricultural areas in the southern Gaza Strip, southeast of the city of Khan Yunis. IDF troops were not fired upon during the operation and suffered no casualties.

The troops entered the sparsely populated area on Monday, pushing more than a mile into Gaza. Soldiers conducted searches from house to house, detaining about 40 Palestinians for questioning, the army said. No major fighting was reported.

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The sweeps were carried out principally to find explosive devices and smuggling tunnels that may be used to infiltrate Israel.

During the operation, troops interrogated dozens of Palestinians and arrested four who were later turned over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning.

Some weapons were confiscated and furniture and windows were broken in some of the homes, Palestinian security officials said. The troops left the area at daybreak Tuesday, the army said.

The Israeli operation was the largest inside Gaza since a cease-fire took hold last November.

Witnesses: Teenager shot and wounded by IDF in Jenin
In the West Bank Tuesday, IDF troops shot a 14-year-old Palestinian youth in the stomach during an operation in the town of Jenin, witnesses said. The youth was moderately hurt. Medical workers said the boy was shot when soldiers fired at stone throwers. The IDF confirmed an operation was under way in Jenin but gave no further information.

In East Jerusalem on Tuesday, Israeli police shut down a Palestinian conference to mark 40 years since Israel captured the sector of the city, police and organizers said.

The gathering was banned since it was backed by the Palestinian Authority, which Israeli law prohibits from operating in East Jerusalem, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1967, soon after capturing it.