GAZA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) — Two Palestinian children were killed and a third was critically wounded on Tuesday afternoon when Israeli artillery fired a shell at a group of Palestinians in northern Gaza Strip, witnesses said.
The witnesses clarified that a group of people, including children were gathering near the College of Agriculture in the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip when the shell was fired and hit them.
Palestinian medics at Kamal Odwan Hospital said that two children were killed and one was critically wounded in the Israeli shelling on the town of Beit Hanoun.
The witnesses said that shortly before the Israeli artillery shelling, a group of Islamic Jihad militants fired two homemade rockets from the area at the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.
The group had also earlier claimed responsibility for launching two homemade rockets fired from northern Gaza Strip at the southern Israel town of Sderout. Damages were caused to one house in the town, no injuries reported.
Earlier Tuesday, three Islamic Jihad militants were killed in an Israeli strike east of the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip. The three militants were on their way to launch rockets attacks on Israel.
On Monday, six Islamic Hamas militants were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their car east of central Gaza Strip refugee camp of al-Bureij.
Militant groups, mainly Hamas and Islamic Jihad escalated in the last few days their rockets attacks on Israel, said that these attacks are retaliation to Israeli military offensives against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.