Israel warplanes hit Hamas sites in Gaza

Israeli air strikes hit Hamas military sites in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

"A short while ago, in response to the rocket attack, (Israeli military) aircraft struck a number of Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.

Balls of flame shot into the air, leaving dark smoke drifting over the territory, after the strikes.

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The army said hours earlier that air raid sirens were sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and in areas near the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The exchange came after three Palestinians were killed and 12 others wounded on Friday during an Israeli army raid in Jenin, a stronghold of armed Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank.

The men were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in which they were, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

Israel's army said soldiers had come under fire during an operation to search for weapons.

In April, Israeli warplanes also hit Gaza after incoming rocket fire. The Hamas-controlled Gaza coastal enclave of 2.3 million people has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.

Agence France-Presse