Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers have pushed into the Gaza Strip to demolish what the army called militant gunposts and Palestinian medics say a man was killed after his house was knocked down.
The army said it had removed shacks and incomplete structures, but no inhabited buildings in the raid near the town of Khan Younis.
But Palestinian medics and witnesses said Mahmoud Khala Sallah (70) was inside a building when it was knocked down. They were unsure if the army could have been aware he was there.
Violence in the Gaza Strip has surged since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon set out a plan early this year to withdraw troops and settlers from the impoverished territory captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Mr Sharon is due to meet centre-left opposition leader Shimon Peres today to discuss forming a new coalition government that would be able to push through the withdrawal plan next year.