UPDATE - 3 Palestinians martyred in eastern Gaza

UPDATES PALESTINIAN CASUALTIES, ADDS ISRAELI CASUALTIES, BACKGROUND; UPDATED HEADLINE

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA, Palestine (AA) – Three Palestinians were martyred on Sunday in Israeli army attacks on the blockaded Gaza strip, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement.

Bilal al-Bana and Abdullah Abu al-Ata were martyred in an Israeli army raid in eastern Gaza, while Hamed Ahmed Abdul Khudari was martyred in another Israeli raid in central Gaza, the ministry said in two separate statements Sunday.

The newest casualties marked the third straight day of deadly Israeli army attacks on the Gaza strip.

Palestinian resistance factions, meanwhile, announced in a joint statement Sunday that they had targeted the towns of Beersheba and Ashkelon with dozens of rockets “in response to the Israeli targeting of safe houses in the Gaza Strip.”

The resistance factions warned Israel against continuing its “policy of targeting and bombing safe houses," vowing retaliation.

Since Saturday, 10 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her infant child, were martyred and 83 others wounded by Israeli air strikes.

Two Israelis have been killed since Saturday by Palestinian resistance factions' rocket attacks in response to Israeli raids Friday which left four Palestinians martyred. Another 84 Israelis have received medical treatment, including 62 for panic attacks.

At least 200 civilian targets have been hit in Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip since Saturday, including seven residential houses.