Gaza City  - A special Israeli army unit stormed a northern Gaza Strip village and arrested four Bedouins before pulling out, witnesses and Palestinian security sources said.

Witnesses said the four men, Bedouin shepherds, were herding their flock near the town of Beit Lahiya, a few hundred metres from the Gaza Strip's northern border with Israel.

According to residents of al-Nasser village, Israeli tanks rolled about one hundred metres into Gaza followed by a unit of special forces who advanced further to grab the shepherds.

Security sources of Islamic movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, said that an Israeli helicopter opened fire during the quick incursion apparently to provide cover for the troops. They repoorted no injuries in the action.

Residents of the area reported hearing an explosion that may have been a bomb going off near the border fence before the Israeli incursion.

Following the completion of a 22-day Israeli military offensive on January 18, Israeli army forces typically carried out incursions into uninhabited parts of the Gaza Strip along the border, and rarely approached populated areas. (dpa)