A senior Islamic Hamas movement militant was killed on Saturday morning in an Israeli airstrike that targeted him as he was driving his car in northern Gaza City, the movement and eyewitnesses said.

Eyewitnesses said that Lo'ai al-Bourno, 32, was driving his car on al-Jalla Street in Gaza City, where suddenly the car was directly hit by an air-to-surface missile. Al-Bourno was immediately killed, they added.

Hamas movement mourned al-Bourno and said he is a commander in al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas movement's armed wing, and also an expert in manufacturing homemade rockets.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army's large-scale ground operation called "Autumn Clouds" continued in northern Gaza Strip for the fourth consecutive day, mainly in the town of Beit Hanoun.

Palestinian medics in northern Gaza Strip al-Awda Hospital said that one Palestinian was killed on Saturday morning by Israeli airstrikes, and rescue teams found the body of another Palestinian who was killed two days ago.

Palestinian medics said that since the beginning of the Israeli operation into Gaza Strip, the Israeli troops have killed 38 Palestinians and wounded more than 150 people.

The Israeli army said that the aim of the operation into northern Gaza Strip was to rein on Palestinian militants and prevent them from launching homemade rockets at Israel.

However, several Palestinian militant groups said in reaction to the operation that they would not stop launching rockets at Israel, vowing to carry out more revenge attacks on the Jewish state.

Source: Xinhua