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Sources: Islamic Jihad member killed in Israeli airstrike

Story Highlights

• The airstrike hit a car carrying the militants on the north side of Gaza City
• Israeli aircraft routinely target Palestinian militant groups in Gaza
• Raid was second since the Islamic party Hamas took control of Gaza
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GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A member of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad was killed and three others wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza late Sunday, Palestinian security sources said.

The airstrike hit a car carrying the militants on the north side of Gaza City about 10 p.m. (3 p.m. ET), the Palestinian sources said.

The Israeli military confirmed the airstrike, telling CNN the targets had fired two Qassam rockets into Israeli territory earlier in the day and were preparing to launch a third.

One of those rockets hit a house in the Israeli town of Sderot, damaging the building without causing any casualties.

Israeli aircraft routinely target Palestinian militant groups in Gaza in an effort to stop the ongoing rocket attacks.

Sunday's raid was the second since the Islamic party Hamas, which has refused to renounce violence, wrested control of Gaza from Palestinian security forces under the control of the rival Fatah party earlier this month.

Fatah, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, retains control of Palestinian territories in the West Bank. The United States, Israel and the European Union have pledged to support Abbas, whose party has endorsed a negotiated settlement of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hamas won control of the Palestinian parliament and government in January 2006 elections. It has refused to recognize Abbas' decrees dissolving the government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya and appointing a new one led by Salam Fayyad.

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli government approved the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax revenues to the Fatah-led emergency government, hoping the money will bolster Abbas. (Full story)

Under the 1993 Oslo peace accords, Israel collected about $75 million per month on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, but froze the money when Hamas took power.

Israel has continued to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, with trucks carrying food, medicine and animal feed into the territory on Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces reported.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are scheduled to meet Monday in Egypt, along with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo said Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel during the meeting.


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Hamas Executive Force member stands by car hit by an Israeli airstrike while it was carrying Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City.

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