An Israeli air strike kills three children , bringing today's death toll to 12

An Israeli strike killed on Wednesday evening three Palestinian children in northern Gaza and wounded 17 others, bringing the death toll out of Israeli attacks today to 12.

File - 2007

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that the three children's bodies reached hospital dismembered, as at least 17 others were wounded , including 6 children.

Dr. M'awiya Hasanin, chief of the ambulance and emergency department at the aL-Shifa hospital, confirmed that one of those killed was beheaded due to severity of the air strike.

He added that three of the wounded children were admitted to the intensive care unit for their critical conditions.

Witnesses said that the Israeli missile struck a launching pad, just few meters away from a playground in the Altwam area in northern Gaza, where many children happened to playing football.

This latest air strike brought to 11 the number of Palestinians, indluding civilians, who were have been killed by the Israeli army over the past 24 hours in different parts of the coastal region.

Two Palestinian farmers were killed, on Wednesday afternoon, during Israeli shelling of farm land near Gaza city in the northern part of the coastal region.

Dr, Mo'awiah Abu Hassanin of the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza told reporters that, two farmers were killed and another two injured when Israeli tanks stationed at the borders near Gaza city shelled nearby farms . Abu Hassanin identified one of the killed as Monawar Abu Mandeel, 27.

Also on Wednesday afternoon, Israeli media sources reported that 17 Palestinian home made shells fired from Gaza landed in the nearby southern Israeli town of Sderot, killing one Israeli man, and injuring three others. The death toll in Gaza reach seven today with the two Palestinian farmers killed in the afternoon. On tuesday evening another Palestinian farmer, Hasan Abu Sabt from Khan Younis was also killed by Israeli fire. Palestinians have farmland and homes adjacent to the border there.

Five resistance fighters, members of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, were killed, and three others wounded in Israeli air strike in the early morning.

Eyewitnesses saw, a civilian car driving along an agricultural road in Khan Younis city. Two missiles were shot from an Israeli Apache helicopter directly at the vehicle. It is believed that those inside the car were killed instantly.

The Al-Qassam brigades, identified the victims as their own, and stated that the attack was an Israeli targeted assassination. The brigades said those killed were "field members" of the group.

Late on Tuesday night, an Islamic Jihad fighter was reportedly killed in Israeli fire near the Gaza-Israel border in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Medics identified the deceased as Zaki Abu Zaid, and said that another man was also injured in the attack. The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, confirmed that Abu Zaid was their member.