Israeli aircraft yesterday killed three Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy, medical sources in Gaza said, as militants fired rockets into Israel for a third day.

An Israeli military statement said the attacks had "targeted a terrorist squad that was in the final stages of preparing to fire rockets at Israel from the northern Gaza strip".

Violence flared on Friday when an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian militant leaders in Gaza.

A salvo of rockets was fired into Israel in revenge, leaving six people wounded.

The violence followed a familiar pattern that has seen the two sides engage in numerous attacks along Israel's border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.