Gaza militant killed in Israeli air strike

An Israeli air strike in Hamas-ruled Gaza has killed one commander of a Palestinian militant group.

Four militants were also wounded in the air attack in central Gaza. The raid comes a day after the Popular Resistance Committees, a militant group based in Gaza, said its members had fired a mortar at Israel in retaliation. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the air strike, saying it was to prevent "rocket attacks against southern Israel".

The recent violence follows last month's strike, where Israel killed six militants in two incidents in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Islamic Jihad militants are seen in the Gaza Strip on December 31.  Israeli aircraft attacked at least four targets in the Hamas-run  Gaza Strip early Saturday, wounding two people in an apparent  retaliation for a rocket strike on Israel, officials said. (AFP/File/Mohammed Abed)