At least six Palestinians were killed Friday, hours after Israel announced it had started a ground operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Health ministry officials in Gaza told Xinhua that two teenagers were killed by Israeli artillery fire in the northern Gaza Strip city of Biet Hanoun.
A five-month infant was killed and his mother injured when an Israeli warplane destroyed their house in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, medics said.
According to the same sources, a man was also killed in the same area.
Two young men were killed by artillery shelling in Gaza-Israel border areas.
On July 8, Israel started an all-out aerial operation, dubbed "Protective Edge", to stop rocket fire from Gaza.
So far, 246 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,850 others injured in the operation.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday ordered a ground operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu's decision came after Egyptian and international efforts to reach a ceasefire failed.
Hamas warned that Israel would pay a heavy price for its ground offensive on Gaza.