Israel Meets Rockets With Strikes in Gaza

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinian gunmen in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and set up a detention center outside the territory, part of an offensive aimed at stopping rocket fire on Israel during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

On Saturday afternoon, aircraft fired three missiles at a car carrying two militants, killing at least one, Palestinian security officials said.

The Israeli army said the strike targeted militants with ties to the Fatah movement. An official said the men had launched rocket attacks at Israel.

Earlier Saturday, a missile strike killed six gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas, Palestinian officials said. Fifteen people were wounded in those strikes east of Gaza City.

More than a dozen Israeli tanks also moved in the area, and security officials reported exchanges of fire between the Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen.

The Israeli military said the early-morning clash began when militants fired an antitank missile at an Israeli bulldozer. Troops responded with fire from the air and the ground. The army confirmed that troops hit a group of Palestinian gunmen.

Saturday’s deaths brought to more than 20 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops in the last three days. Most of the dead were militants. However, two minors, 10 and 14, and a 29-year-old woman were also killed.

On Friday, the army set up a makeshift detention center next to Israel’s border with Gaza to interrogate dozens of Palestinians detained in the latest incursions, an army spokeswoman said. She could not say how many Palestinians had been detained.