Israeli airstrike kills 3 militants in Gaza

Three Islamic Jihad militants were killed Tuesday in an Israeli air raid in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, medical sources and witnesses said. Hospital sources reported that the three men were killed instantly when an Israeli aircraft targeted them in Rafah City. The men were identified as Ismail Abu Jouda 24, Shaher Abu Shanab 24, and Abdul Shafi Moamar 33. The Islamic Jihad movement announced that the militants were killed when they clashed with an Israeli force that moved into Rafah City. Israel's Jerusalem Post newspaper reported that the Israeli army confirmed carrying out a strike in Gaza. Last week, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoon. The recent weeks have witnessed a military escalation between Gaza militants and Israel, raising doubts of a possible collapse of a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel brokered by Egypt in 2012. The truce agreement ended a week of tit-for-tat violence that killed 184 Palestinians and six Israelis.