Israeli air force gun ships shelled, in the early hours of Friday morning, a bridge in the center of Gaza city partially destroying the bridge damaging the water system in the area, Palestinian sources reported.Israeli aircrafts also fired at least one missile at an athletic center in Al-Rimal neighborhood in Gaza City causing serious damage to the games hall. 

The attack came shortly after the ruling Hamas movement has finished a rally in the soccer pitch at the center.

These attacks came after Israeli military chiefs ordered an escalation of attacks against Palestinians in the aftermath of a suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian man near the settlement of Qadumim, in the northern West Bank, killing at least three Israeli settlers.

Late on Thursday night, Israeli war ships shelled a residential area in the northern Gaza Strip claiming that Palestinian resistance uses this area to launch home-made shells at Israeli targets.

No injuries were reported after the attack, but residents said children were treated for shock, after the explosion caused by the missiles.

Israeli minister of Defense, Shaul Mofaz ordered senior army officers and the Shin Bet security service to step up targeted assassinations of Islamic Jihad activists who claimed responsibility for the firing of home-made shells this week from the Gaza Strip.