Israeli missile strike kills two Palestinians

GAZA - An Israeli missile strike killed two Palestinian civilians in Gaza on Thursday local time as the military pressed ahead with one of its biggest offensives in the strip in months, witnesses said.

They said a missile had targeted a car carrying militants. A second missile was fired at a group of civilians who approached the car after the first blast, which resulted in the two fatalities. A third civilian was critically wounded.

An Israeli military spokesman said both aerial strikes targeted militants who were responsible for firing rockets into Israel earlier on Thursday.

- REUTERS