Four Palestinian fighters from the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) were killed in an Israeli missile attack on their car which was traveling in the north of Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon, medical sources said.

The sources confirmed the four passengers have been killed and there were no casualties among bystanders as the incident took place on the wide street of Saladin.

Local radio Al-Quds, run by Jihad movement, said the dead were members of the movement's military wing who were "on a Jihad mission in the north of Gaza Strip" without specifying what kind of mission.

Witnesses said an Israeli helicopter fired one rocket on a white Subaru car.

Earlier this morning, the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for launching two home-made rockets into southern Israeli town of Sderot in spite of the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli cabinet decided on Sunday to broaden military pressure on the Palestinian militant groups, especially Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, after dozens of rockets landed on Israeli territories over the past days.

The death toll of the ongoing Israeli strikes since last night has hit 13 Palestinians, seven of them were relatives to Khalil al- Haiya, a Hamas lawmaker, whose house was hit by Israeli missile, and the eighth was al-Haiya's bodyguard.

A Palestinian was killed in a predawn air strike on a building bricks factory which the Israeli army said was used by Hamas to produce rockets.

The Israeli aerial offensive was launched last Thursday, mainly targeting sites and cars of Hamas activists.

Source: Xinhua