Three Palestinian gunmen were killed on Thursday by Israeli forces in northern Gaza when they planted explosives at the border, the IDF reported. Earlier, three Palestinians were killed and another seriously injured Wednesday night during an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip, according to the spokesman of the Health Ministry. "Three civilians were killed and another seriously injured in an Israeli airstrike east of the refugee camp of al-Maghazi in central Gaza", said Ashraf Qoudra.
He indicated that two of the three dead were identified as Khalil al-Jerba, aged 27, and Khaled al-Qerem, 25. According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli strike hit the car in which they were traveling.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said that "the Israeli army targeted a group of terrorists who were preparing to launch rockets at Israel from the center of the Gaza Strip."
"This cell was involved in previous launches of rockets into communities in southern Israel," she added.
Recent launches of rockets from Gaza against southern Israeli territory have been claimed by radical Salafist groups.
Salafist groups accuse the Hamas government in Gaza of showing weakness against Israel and its failure to impose Islamic law.
According to the Israeli army, more than 450 rockets landed in Israeli soil since early 2012.
