The Israeli military has said Palestinian fighters have killed four Israeli soldiers after lobbing an explosive device into their tank, AFP reports.

“Around 6am in the morning (0300 GMT), a squad of three terrorists arrived at the IDF (Israeli military) post near Sheikh Radwan in northern Gaza,” it said in a statement.

“The terrorists threw an explosive device into an IDF tank — the device detonated, killing the four IDF soldiers who were in the tank at the time.”

Another soldier was moderately injured in the exchange of fire that ensued, the military said, adding that “hits were identified” on two of the three militants who carried out the assault.

Only three of the dead soldiers were named, while the name of the fourth has not yet been cleared for publication.