GAZA CITY -- Three Palestinians were injured Sunday in the southern Gaza Strip when Israeli tanks based in a Jewish settlement opened fire on the Khan Yunis Refugee Camp, while Israeli forces made two minor incursions elsewhere in the territory.

The three, including a 16-year-old girl, were hit by shrapnel when tanks in the Gush Katif settlement bloc opened fire, Palestinian security sources said.

The edge of the refugee camp is only a few hundred meters (yards) from the coastal settlement zone, and frequent exchanges of fire occur there.

Israeli forces also made two incursions into Palestinian autonomous zones arrested a Palestinian Authority worker in Deir el-Balah in the central strip and eight members of the same family in Rafah on the Egyptian border, Palestinians officials said.

Israeli Army Radio also reported shots being fired at troops manning a checkpoint on the northern edge of Bait-ul-Moqaddas, on the road to the West Bank town of Ramallah. No one was hurt in the incident, it said.

Violence has dropped off dramatically in the past two weeks after a sharp upsurge, although sporadic unrest has affected both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.