GAZA - Israeli tank fire killed 14 Palestinian civilians in Gaza on Wednesday while four gunmen and a civilian were killed during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian medical and security officials said.

Women and children were among the dead in the Gaza Strip, medical officials said.

An Israel military spokeswoman said she was not immediately aware of any tank shells hitting Gaza. The spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Palestinian security sources said Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinian gunmen and a civilian in a raid near the city of Jenin in the West Bank. The gunmen were from the militant group Al Aqsa Martyears Brigades, part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

The Israeli military said troops had opened fire during an operation to arrest wanted gunmen in the village of Yamoun.

Israeli troops completed their largest military operation in Gaza in a year on Tuesday after killing 52 gunmen and civilians in a week-long incursion focused on the northern town of Beit Hanoun that Israel said was designed to stop rocket attacks.

In addition, Israeli soldiers killed eight Palestinians in separate incidents in Gaza on Tuesday.

Israel had pulled its forces out of Gaza last year after a 38-year occupation.

But tensions have flared since Hamas rose to power after winning Palestinian elections in January, and gunmen captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid in June.