Gaza, April 02: Israeli aircraft killed three Palestinian gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip early on Saturday, medical officials and the Israeli army said.
Residents said the planes fired on a car in which the three men were travelling in the town of Khan Younis.
An Israeli military spokesman said the air strike was aimed at “a terrorist squad planning to kidnap Israelis over the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover”.
Hamas said the three men killed were members of its group, but officials declined comment on the allegations made against them by the Israeli military.
An Israeli air strike in the same area of Gaza on Wednesday killed a Palestinian gunman on a motorcycle.
In a rise in violence last month, Israel carried out a series of air strikes and Palestinian militants fired rocket salvoes into the Jewish state.
Hamas has offered a truce but exchanges of fire between Israel and other militant groups have persisted.
–Agencies