An Israeli drone fired a missile at suspected Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza Strip this evening, killing four, witnesses said.
The air strike came during a daylong Israel military raid of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, in which troops have killed five other Palestinians, including three militants and two teenagers.
The Israeli army said the raid was launched to stop a recent barrage of mortar and rocket fire at neighbouring Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
The drone targeted militants by a building in the town a short time after Israel had sent in more troops and armoured vehicles to Khan Younis, witnesses said.
The Israeli army confirmed that the air force had targeted an armed group in a raid on Khan Younis and that the target was hit.
Two of the militants killed belonged to an armed faction of Palestinian leader Mr Mahmoud Abbas' mainstream Fatah, and had been involved in bombarding Jewish settlements with mortar bombs in the past two weeks, group members said.
In an earlier incident, two people were hurt by flying debris when Israeli soldiers blew up a house in Khan Younis after dark, witnesses said.