At least three Palestinians were killed and two wounded Wednesday night in an Israeli airstrike on the militants who were trying to launch homemade rockets from central Gaza Strip to southern Israel, local officials and witnesses said, Xinhua reported.
Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza told reporters that three Palestinians were killed and two wounded, one of whom was in critical condition, as the Israeli airstrike hit them directly.
Qedra said that the victims were identified as Samir al-Jadba, 22, and Sami al-Qerim, 23, while the third's identity is still unknown, but he did not say whether they are militants or which militant group they belong to.
Meanwhile, witnesses and Hamas security sources said that an Israeli reconnaissance drone fired at least one missile at a group of militants, and a huge explosion was heard in east of al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.
Recently, radical militants in the Gaza Strip escalated their rockets attacks on southern Israeli towns, as Israel said that more than ten rockets were fired on the Jewish state over the past several days.
Earlier this week, senior Israeli army officials threatened to carry out a large-scale ground operation on the Gaza Strip to force the militant groups to stop their rockets attacks.