Two Palestinian militants were killed and two others injured at predawn on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike on a group of Palestinian militants east of Rafah town in southern Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses said.

Witnesses said that an Israeli aircraft fired one air-to-ground missile at a group of Palestinian militants who confronted an Israeli army incursion into the eastern part of Rafah town.

Medics in the town said that ambulances brought the body of one Palestinian, and of the injured, one was in serious condition.

Paramedics, meanwhile, said that there was the body of one militant on the ground in the area, adding that darkness and Israeli gunfire prevented them from getting the body back.

Shortly before midnight, an Israeli tank stationed east of the town fired a shell at the neighborhood of al-Shawka, witnesses said, adding that the shell fell near a Palestinian home and wounded two children.

Palestinian security sources said that Israeli tanks, armored vehicles and personnel carriers, backed by reconnaissance drones and attack helicopters, advanced toward southern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army has launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip since late June to rescue an abducted soldier and stop Palestinian rocket attacks.

Source: Xinhua