Three Palestinians killed in Gaza Strip

GAZA - Three Palestinians were killed and two injured Sunday during Israeli artillery shelling in the Gaza Strip, medical sources at the Beit Hanoun hospital said.

The artillery shelling in the northern Gaza Strip city of Beit Hanoun was carried out after Gaza militants fired three mortar shells into the southern Israeli region of Negev. The shells reportedly did not cause any injuries or damage.

Militants have launched an increasing number of rockets in the last few weeks, leading Israel to retaliate.

Israeli F-16 fighter jets Thursday night carried out four successive airstrikes on several targets in the Gaza Strip in response to an earlier homemade rocket. No injuries were reported in any of the attacks.

Last week, one Palestinian was killed and two injured in an Israeli airstrike on smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt, also in response to an earlier mortar shell.

Since the beginning of the year, militants have fired more than 100 rockets and mortars into Israel, according to the army.