The Israeli army confirmed it targeted a vehicle near Gaza City, which it said was carrying militants.

Israel has carried out a spate of air strikes against militants recently in an effort to stem Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.

Five such rockets were fired into Israel on Friday, but no-one was hurt.

Heightened tensions

AFP news agency quoted witnesses as saying a missile hit the car in the village of Wadi Gaza, on the southern outskirts of Gaza City.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the vehicle was carrying an Islamic Jihad cell which had fired rockets into Israel.

"Two of the wounded have serious burns and their condition is very serious," an unnamed Palestinian medical source was quoted by AFP as saying.

Scores of rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel over the past week, causing some injuries and damage.

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have heightened since eight Palestinian civilians died in an explosion on a beach in Gaza last Friday.

The Hamas-led Palestinian Authority blamed Israeli shelling for the blast, while Israel has denied it was responsible. Israel has sporadically shelled northern Gaza to try to stop militants firing rockets from the area.

The militants say that their missile attacks are in retaliation for Israeli military raids or other actions either in Gaza or in the West Bank.

(BBC)