Two Palestinian children and one militant were killed at predawn on Saturday in two separate Israeli airstrikes carried out by aircraft on eastern Rafah town on southern Gaza, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes on Rafah town at the time, killing one militant, who is a member of the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), south of the town, said the eyewitnesses and medics.

The eyewitnesses said that shortly before the airstrike, another Israeli aircraft targeted a civilian car, which drove with four passengers, a mother, her two children and the driver in the town.

They added that the mother and her two children were leaving their house in eastern Rafah in fear of more airstrikes and tanks artillery shelling at their neighborhood of al-Shawka.

The two children were killed, while the mother and the taxi driver were critically wounded and were immediately taken to Rafah town Hospital, said the witnesses.

The death of the militant and the two children is raising the number of the Palestinians that were killed since the beginning of the offensive on Rafah at predawn on Thursday to 15 people killed, including 4 children and 11 militants, according to media counts.

Since June 25 when Israeli army started its "Summer Rains" military operation on the Gaza Strip, official reports said that more than 160 Palestinians were killed and more than 700 wounded.

Israel said that the aim of the hit-and-run operations against the Gaza Strip is to free an Israeli soldiers abducted by Palestinian militants on June 25 and rein on militants who keep launching homemade rockets at Israel.

Source: Xinhua