GAZA CITY (AFP) - At least three Palestinians died when an Israeli helicopter fired a missile at the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses said.
Another 10 people were injured in the strike, which was initially thought to be caused by a tank shell.
The missile struck near a house in the Al-Sikka neighbourhood in the eastern district of the camp, they said.
The identities of the dead were not immediately known.
Earlier, two armed militants from the radical Hamas movement were killed during an Israeli air raid on the camp.
The latest casualties lifted the toll to 44 Palestinians killed since the start of the massive Israeli operation in the northern Gaza Strip, codenamed "Days of Penitence", on Tuesday night.
Thirty-two of the Palestinian victims along with two Israeli soldiers and a Jewish settler were killed on Thursday alone.
They brought the overall death toll since the start of the Palestinian uprising four years ago to 4,399, including 3,374 Palestinians and 953 Israelis, according to an AFP count.