A senior Islamic Jihad (Holy War) leader said Thursday evening that the group will revenge for the killing of two militants by an earlier Israeli air strike.

"The war with Israel is now opened," Khader Habib told reporters, vowing the Israeli attack would enlarge the area of confrontation and increase revenge actions.

He said that the group would carry out a quick and painful reaction against Israel for its killing of Shadi Mohanna, the group's field commander in northern Gaza, and his assistant Mohammed Ghazaineh, both from the group's armed wing Saraya al- Quds.

Two missiles hit a white Subrau car the two militants were driving just outside the Jabalia refugee camp, which also killed five civilians who were bystanders and wounded some 10 others late Thursday.

The Israeli target killing was part of a broad offensive in Gaza and the West Bank aimed at Islamic Jihad militants after a member of the group killed five Israelis in a suicide bombing attack in the northern Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday.

The bombing is the first deadly attack since Israel completed its withdrawal of settlers and troops in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank last month.

Jihad, a radical militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, has been spearheading a series of attacks against Israeli targets despite a one-year ceasefire deal negotiated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 13 Palestinian factions in the Egyptian capital Cairo in March.

Source: Xinhua