An Israel Air Force (IAF) strike on the northern Gaza Strip is reported to have killed three Palestinian militants and critically injured another, as they were attempting to fire rockets into Israel.
Israeli aircraft struck the militants of the Islamic Jihad outfit, around 7 P.M. (0500 GMT) Sunday night when they were spotted while setting up rocket-launchers east of the city of Dir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
One person killed was Awad Nasir, a 29-year-old resident of the city who was a senior commander of the Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. His aides Hassan al-Qatarawi, 22, of Bureij refugee camp and Hudhaifa al-Hams, 23, of Nuseirat refugee camp, were also killed in the strike.
The air raid came hours after four mortar rounds hit southern Israel without causing casualties.
It also came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans to erect a wall along a part of Israel's border with Egypt and install advanced surveillance equipment to keep out illegal migrants and militants.
Hamas and the smaller factions are worried that the barrier will severely limit the ability of Gazans to smuggle weapons and other goods into the area.
Ten Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the past two weeks, which witnessed dozens of rocket and mortar fire attacks launched at Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
Several high-ranking Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) officers doubted that Hamas was behind the recent rocket and mortar fire, although last week the Islamist group did slacken efforts to prevent smaller, more radical factions from launching projectiles into Israel.
These officials said despite the apparent escalation of violence, Hamas was not interested in a wider confrontation with Israel after the severe pounding it received during the Gaza war, and were expecting calm would soon return to the Gaza border.
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