Israeli missiles slammed into a Palestinian car near the West Bank city of Nablus today, killing three people in a strike aimed at a senior member of the militant Islamic group Hamas.
The missile strike was one incident in a fresh cycle of violence in which seven Palestinians died today.
Israeli sources said the apparent target of the attack was top Hamas military leader Mr Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, but Palestinian sources could not say whether he was among the dead.
Earlier today, a Palestinian teenager was killed in a stone-throwing confrontation with Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip and two Palestinian men died in a West Bank explosion, possibly while preparing a bomb.
Near Gaza's Rafah crossing, Israeli troops shot at a civilian car, killing a Palestinian man and critically wounding a woman who were returning from a break-fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Palestinian police and witnesses said.
Military sources said soldiers opened fire at the car after it approached their position and did not heed warning shots. The area has been a flashpoint for violence in a 14-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian Authority also said five schoolboys who were killed on yerterday were blown up by an Israeli booby-trap and demanded an international inquiry.
The United States called the incident a tragic accident which Israel must investigate.