Israeli troops launched a limited incursion into the northern Gaza Strip and also opened artillery fire at a number of Palestinian fishermen off the Gaza coast, eyewitnesses said on Thursday.

Israeli gunboats targeted fishing boats off northern Gaza, local sources said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Israeli troops regularly target Palestinian fishermen sailing within the six-nautical-mile zone, as well as farmlands along the border, clearly violating the ceasefire deal reached after the Gaza war .