Eight Israeli soldiers were killed in a blast in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said on Saturday.

It gave no details of the circumstances of the incident but earlier the armed wing of Hamas said it had killed and wounded a number of Israeli soldiers in an ambush on an armoured personnel carrier in the southern city of Rafah.

It is the deadliest attack on Israeli forces in months.

Only one of the dead troops, Cpt Wassem Mahmoud, 23, was identified by the army. No further information was immediately available.

The deaths will likely fuel calls for a cease-fire and heighten Israeli public anger over ultra-Orthodox exemptions from the military.

In January, 21 Israeli troops were killed in a single attack by Palestinian militants in Gaza.

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