At least five Palestinians have been killed and several others injured in an Israeli air raid in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

In an earlier air raid targeting a group of Palestinian fighters on Wednesday, an al-Quds Brigades member was killed and two others injured in east Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, said that its fighters clashed with a special Israeli force that attempted to sneak into the area.

Israeli helicopters intervened and fired two missiles at the Palestinian fighters.

In a separate incident, a Palestinian farmer was earlier killed near Kisovim crossing in southern Gaza Strip.

Minivan targeted

Hamas said the five people killed in the later attack in Khan Younis were members of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, its armed wing.

Two missiles directly hit the minivan they were travelling in, witnesses told Al Jazeera, leaving parts of dead bodies scattered in the street.

Dr Moaiya Hassanain of the Gaza health ministry said four other people were wounded in the attack.

 A spokeswoman for the Israeli military confirmed that it had "carried out strikes on vehicles in Khan Younis and identified hitting them."

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at another car in Khan Younis just minutes before, witnesses told Al Jazeera.

They said passengers of that car managed to escape before the missiles hit the vehicle.

The Israeli military carries out near-daily airstrikes in Gaza, targeting Palestinian armed groups.

More than 200 people have been killed since Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in November. 

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