2 Palestinian children killed by IDF fire

Israeli forces killed two Palestinian children along the Gaza-Israel border on Tuesday, Palestinian medical officials said.

The two dead were 10 and 12 years old, according to Dr. Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. A third child, 10, was seriously wounded and six other people were lightly hurt, he said.

The army said troops targeted two figures spotted near a

rocket launcher in an area where a rocket had been fired

into Israel earlier.

A third child, 10, was seriously wounded and six other

people were lightly hurt, all of them civilians, Hassanin

said.

The army said Palestinian rocket teams have been known to send young children to retrieve rocket launchers after the projectiles are fired. "In light of the reports, it seems likely that this was the case here," the army said in a statement.

"Anyone who is next to a launching cell is in danger," the IDF said. 

Earlier Tuesday, Israeli troops killed three Islamic Jihad militants in southern Gaza, and on Monday, the Israeli air force killed six Hamas gunmen. The Israeli military regularly carries out attacks targeting Palestinian militants launching rockets at towns in southern Israel.

Gaza militants fired three rockets into Israel on Tuesday, the army said, including one that hit an empty kindergarten in the town of Sderot.

Hanan Greenberg contributed to this report