Residents said the planes fired on a car in which the three men were traveling in the town of Khan Younis.

An Israeli military spokesman said the air strike was aimed at “a terrorist squad planning to kidnap Israelis over the upcoming Jewish holiday of Passover.”

An Israeli air strike in the same area of Gaza on Wednesday killed a Palestinian gunman on a motorcycle.

In a rise in violence earlier this month, Israel carried out a series of air strikes and Palestinian militants fired rocket salvoes into the Jewish state.

Hamas, the Islamist group which rules Gaza, has offered a truce but exchanges of fire between Israel and other militant groups have persisted.