At least two people have been killed and 15 others injured in an Israeli air raid on two vehicles in the Gaza Strip, ambulance crews and local residents said.

Witnesses in Rafah, near Gaza's border with Egypt, said missiles fired from an Israeli aircraft on Saturday hit a car and a truck.

Two Islamic Jihad members traveling in the car reportedly escaped unharmed.

An Israeli army spokeswoman in Tel Aviv said the attack had prevented "an imminent terrorist strike on Israel" and claimed that the truck had been carrying weapons.

Witnesses said explosions came from the vehicle after it was attacked, but there was no immediate independent confirmation that it had been carrying explosives.

Some residents said the truck appeared to have been disguised as an Israeli tank transporter.

Islamic Jihad has been behind several rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel. Shortly after the air strikes, several rockets hit Sderot, an Israeli town near Gaza, causing no casualties.

The Gaza Strip has been under the control of Hamas since June, when they defeated fighters from the Fatah movement of Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president.

PHOTO CAPTION

A car after being hit by a missile fired from an Israeli aircraft