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GAZA, May 9 (Reuters) - Residents of the northern Gaza Strip said Israeli tanks passed inside the fence surrounding the enclave on Wednesday but the Israeli army said there was no incursion into Palestinian territory.

A local farmer and a local journalist said eight armoured vehicles and two bulldozers took up positions close to land farmed by Palestinians about 200 metres (yards) on the Gaza side of the fence, near the Palestinian town of Beit Lahiya.

But an Israeli military spokesman said: "There was no incursion into the Gaza Strip ... The fence is not exactly at the border. There may well have been routine checking for mines."

The Israeli army has stepped up activity in recent days along the border with Gaza in an apparent effort to stop militants from firing makeshift rockets at nearby Israeli towns.

Palestinians in the area fear that Israel is planning a massive ground operation in response to the rocket attacks.

A Palestinian security source said Israeli forces had been in the area near Beit Lahiya several times in recent days.

On Monday, an Israeli aircraft attacked a car carrying an Islamic Jihad rocket-firing squad in Gaza, wounding one militant, the group said.

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