"The four soldiers were killed in the same incident, from an explosive device near a school in the area of Zeitoun", a southern neighbourhood of Gaza City, the military said.

In a statement, the military said that two other soldiers were "seriously injured" in the blast, including an officer.

Separately, the Israeli military said that two soldiers were seriously wounded in fighting in southern Gaza, adding that they had been evacuated to hospital for treatment.

Several armed groups issued statements Friday claiming a range of attacks in Gaza.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it "detonated a field of mines and high-explosive ground devices" in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it attacked Israeli soldiers in the east of Rafah, the far southern city where Israeli troops launched a controversial incursion on Tuesday.

The latest deaths take to 271 the Israeli military's losses in the Gaza campaign since the start of its ground offensive on October 27.

The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

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