Army bulldozers could be seen digging up the main road in the town after massive sand piles of sand were dumped at the main entrances to Beit Hanun, which lies around two miles (less than two kilometers) from the border with Israel.

Palestinian medical sources said that at least three people had been injured during clashes as tanks opened fire while helicopter gunships were seen flying overhead.

A total of 23 people were wounded in Beit Hanun on Tuesday while body parts of a Palestinian militant who was killed while trying to detonate a bomb on Monday night had also been recovered.

However ambulances were unable to gain access into the town Wednesday as a result of the blockade, an AFP correspondent at the entrance to Beit Hanun reported.

Tanks had also been placed by the entrance to the nearby town of Beit Lahiya and the Jabalya refugee camp.

A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun yesterday during a major Israeli army operation, Palestinian medical sources said.

The teenager, who has not been named, was killed by soldiers in tanks who had opened fire at youths hurling stones in their direction, witnesses said.

Nine other Palestinians were also wounded during Wednesday's clashes, the sources added.