Israelis Forces Kill 6 Palestinians

Palestinians run with the body of an Islamic Jihad militant after he and two others were killed in an Israeli missile strike near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. Israeli aircraft fired at militants in the southern Gaza Strip Tuesday, the army said, and witnesses said at least three people were killed. The army said the aircraft fired at two gunmen who were located about 600 meters (650 yards) from the fence with Israel. (AP photo/Adel Hana) (Adel Hana - AP)

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israeli forces killed six Palestinians, two of them children, in the West Bank and Gaza Tuesday and early Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli army said ground forces fired at gunmen who approached the Israel-Gaza border fence Tuesday. The Islamic Jihad group said three militants on a mission against Israel were killed.

Later in the day, the army said troops targeted two figures spotted near a rocket launcher in an area of northern Gaza where a rocket had been fired into Israel earlier.

The fire killed a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old who were members of the same extended family, said doctor Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. Another 10-year-old was seriously wounded and six other people were lightly hurt, all of them civilians, Hassanin said.

The army said Palestinian rocket teams have been known to send young children to retrieve rocket launchers after firing.

"In light of the reports, it seems likely that this was the case here," the army said in a statement.

Early Wednesday, Israeli aircraft killed one Hamas militant and wounded three others in an airstrike in Gaza City, Hamas security and Palestinian medical officials said.

The Israeli army said it attacked a group of armed men who had approached the border fence with Israel.

Hamas identified the dead man as a senior field commander in the area, Yehia Habib.

Israel frequently carries out ground and air attacks in an effort to stop near-daily rocket fire. Palestinians fired three rockets into Israel on Tuesday including one that hit an empty kindergarten in the town of Sderot near Gaza, the army said.