According to Palestinian witnesses, the boy had been throwing stones at Israeli tanks when he was hit by shrapnel, and then run over. Two civilians and two Hamas militants are also reported to have been injured.
Hamas said the Israeli ground operation was performed by some 20 combat vehicles supported by infantry troops and aircraft. The TV report said the Israelis had blocked off the residence of a Hamas activist.
Control over the Palestinian territories underwent a split in June, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, following a violent confrontation with Fatah, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hamas was subsequently ousted from the governing coalition in the West Bank by Abbas.
Israel's security cabinet earlier declared the Gaza Strip "an enemy entity," and Israeli ministers and security officials unanimously backed a decision to cut fuel and power supplies to the enclave.
Hamas condemned the sanctions, saying Israel would be to blame for the humanitarian crisis likely to follow the measures.
Palestinian militants often fire rockets into Israel from Gaza, and Israeli troops regularly conduct ground operations in the area.
September 11 saw Palestinian fighters fire a Qassam rocket into an Israeli military training base, causing 69 injuries, some of them serious.
Although Hamas did not participate in this attack, it later congratulated the Palestinian people on a "Victory from God."
