An Israeli army spokesman said that on Saturday an antitank missile was directed at a military patrol along the fence and that in response, the army "targeted several sites in the Gaza Strip" with tank fire.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a small militant faction in Gaza, claimed responsibility for the border attack, saying it had fired two antitank missiles.
The Israeli shelling hit a densely populated neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, with some rounds landing near a tent where people had gathered to pay condolences to a family in mourning, according to reports from the scene.
Ashraf al-Kidra, a spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry, said all four of those killed were civilians, between the ages of 16 and 18, and the wounded included children.
Rami Harra told the Associated Press that his 17 year-old brother, Muhammad Harra, had been killed in the shelling.
"He went out to see what happened, and when he started to help evacuating wounded people who were on the ground, another shell hit the place and killed him," Rami Harra said outside a Gaza morgue, according to the AP report. "Why did they kill him? I can't believe that I am seeing his dead body."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that the military had "responded harshly" to the border attack and that "more responses will be considered in the coming days."
"We will not tolerate a deterioration of events on the border fence," he added.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, threatened retaliation for what he called targeting of civilians. "The resistance has the full right to respond to the Israeli crimes," he said in a text message to reporters.
At least 15 rockets fired from Gaza later slammed into southern Israel, causing no casualties, police said. The Israeli army said it held Hamas "solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip."
Saturday's violence came after a recent uptick of incidents near the border fence.
On Thursday, an explosives-packed tunnel blew up near Israeli troops, destroying an empty army vehicle and lightly injuring a soldier. Palestinians later reported a 13-year-old boy was killed by Israeli gunfire.
On Oct. 23, an Israeli officer lost a hand when an explosive device detonated at the border fence.
Hamas has generally refrained from firing rockets at Israel since a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza four years ago that killed hundreds of Palestinians. But while Hamas has sought to rein in smaller militant factions, those groups have often fired at Israel in response to drone strikes targeting their members.
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