Eleven Palestinian militants, most from Hamas, died in clashes with the Israel Defense Forces in central Gaza yesterday, one of the deadliest days of fighting since the Islamic group wrested control of Gaza in mid-June.

Two IDF soldiers were lightly wounded in the fighting when gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at an army vehicle. At least 20 Palestinians were also hurt.

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A Palestinian cameraman was seriously wounded while documenting the clashes, and though the origin of the gunfire cannot be confirmed, it seems that IDF soldiers were the ones who fired repeatedly at him, while Al Jazeera cameras documented the incident.

Al Jazeera footage showed Imad Ghanem, a cameraman for Hamas's Al Aqsa television network, lying on the ground after being hit, with his camera thrown beside him. He could then be seen getting shot twice more while lying on the ground. Medical sources in Gaza reported that both his legs later had to be amputated and he is in critical condition.

An IDF source said yesterday that Ghanem had been in the first line of fire and was not wearing a vest indicating that he was a member of the press. The source added that the man was probably not a card-carrying reporter, and that his footage would probably be used for Hamas propaganda, not news.

The incident took place near the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, a site of frequent clashes between gunmen and the IDF. Israeli troops had probed about one kilometer inside Gaza on a routine operation against rocket-launching squads when air force patrols covering their advance spotted a group of armed Palestinians approaching, the military said. The aircraft fired at the gunmen and a ground battle developed between the patrol and the militants, it added.

Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said that the group's fighters opened the clash by firing at an Israeli undercover unit.

Witnesses reported heavy exchanges of fire as IDF tanks and bulldozers moved in and soldiers took positions on rooftops. Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants hit back with small-arms fire. They also planted mines for use against the soldiers and fired mortars at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Two of the mortars landed on the Israeli side of the crossing, which has been closed to most traffic since Hamas seized control of Gaza last month, the army said. No one was injured, but the mortar shells ignited a fire in a nearby road, the army said.

Hamas identified most of the dead in the clashes as members of its group. One of the militants killed was identified as an unarmed Islamic Jihad man.

Among the dead was Mohammed Siam, 37, the Hamas field commander in central Gaza, Hamas TV said.

Israeli aircraft later dropped missiles on militant targets in the area, the army said. Hospital officials said that two militants were killed. Hamas said both were Hamas members.

Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Palestinian prime minister and Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip, condemned the Israeli operation and urged Palestinians to fight back. A spokesman for the rival Fatah organization issued a similar statement.

"We assert that our people have the full right to defend themselves and confront these aggressions," Haniyeh said.

Hamas officials said that in a separate military operation along Gaza's northern border with Israel, about 15 tanks and three bulldozers moved into Palestinian farms and razed the land. The army said it had no such vehicles in the area.