Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz Wednesday ordered the army to cease artillery fire in the Gaza Strip and carry out a speedy probe into a shelling that killed 18 Palestinians, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported.

The Israeli army is conducting an immediate and thorough investigation of the incident to determine what brought about civilian deaths, the report said.

Early Wednesday morning, Israeli tank shells struck houses in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, killing at least 18 Palestinians and wounding dozens of others.

According to witnesses, most of the victims are women and children who died in their sleep.

The army confirmed that an artillery battery containing 12 shells had been aimed at a rocket launch pad, about 1 km from Beit Hanoun houses that were hit, where rockets were fired at the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Tuesday, the report said.

It was unclear whether the incident was caused by a technical or human error. The army assumed that there were errors on a coordination level, it added.

The incident came one day after the army ended a six-day military operation dubbed Autumn Clouds in which more than 50 Palestinian militants and civilians were killed.

Source: Xinhua