Witnesses: Israelis and Hamas clash near Gaza City

Witnesses: Israelis and Hamas clash near Gaza City

JERUSALEM, Israel (CNN) — Clashes between Hamas militants and Isaeli Defense Forces soldiers raged to the north and east of Gaza City early Sunday morning, according to eye-witness accounts and medical sources.

Heavy machine gun fire could be heard east of Gaza City as fighting moved closer to the city, according to a CNN stringer in the area.

Israeli shelling north of the city killed two Gazan residents, medical sources at Shifa hospital told CNN.

Meanwhile, forty-nine people were being treated for severe burns suffered after Israeli shelling near the city of Khan Younes in the southern Gaza strip ignited several buildings, including a U.N. school, medical sources at an area hospital told CNN. A girl died as a result of burns from the ensuing fire, sources at Khan Younes hospital said.

Hamas militants fired 20 Grad rockets into Israel Saturday, injuring four civilians, according to an Israeli Defense Forces spokesman.