Three children have been killed in an Israeli missile attack on a car in the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian man carries a wounded child to hospital after today's Israeli strike in Gaza
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the attack, claiming the target was an armed squad from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.
Witnesses said aircraft fired at least one missile at a car carrying al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades gunmen in Gaza City.
The occupants managed to leap free but a 7-year-old girl, 5-year-old boy and a 16-year-old were killed. Doctors initally said two of the dead were siblings but later determined they were unrelated.
Fourteen people were wounded.
Israel has been criticised internationally for its recent shelling of Palestinian areas including an attack on a Gaza beach that killed seven Palestinian civilians earlier this month.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz yesterday pledged new military counter-measures against Palestinian attacks "within a matter of dozens of hours" but did not elaborate.
Israel Radio, quoting witnesses, said Israeli armoured units were massing outside northern Gaza. Israel has limited its ground operations over the past year to quick forays by small infantry units.