Seven Palestinians, including at least four militants, were killed Saturday in two separate Israel Air Force strikes on the Gaza strip.

Later Saturday, A third IAF strike on the strip left four Palestinians wounded, officials said.

Witnesses said the explosion took place at a weapons factory targeted several hours earlier by the IAF. The previous strike on the site killed four people.

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Abu Thaer, a spokesman for the Fatah armed wing Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, said one of the men killed in the second attack was 50-year-old Salah Quffa, head of the group's central Gaza command.

His son, Iyad, was also killed, the spokesman said.

Two employees of the metal shop also died in the strike.

Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and Islamic Jihad gunmen broke through Gaza's heavily fortified border in early June in a failed attempt to abduct an Israeli soldier, and Abu Thaer said Israel was targeting men involved in that operation.

At the time of the second IAF strike, Palestinian militants fired two Qassam rockets at the Israeli border town of Sderot. One of the rockets landed near a Magen David Adom emergency medical services station in the city, causing no injuries or damage. The second rocket slightly damaged a Sderot fire fighting station. One Sderot resident was treated for shock.

Less than three hours earlier on Saturday, three Islamic Jihad militants were killed in an IAF strike in the southern Gaza strip. The army confirmed the IAF fired at a vehicle in Khan Yunis, killing the Islamic Jihad militants inside.

The IDF said the militants had been planning a suicide bombing against Israel and had been involved in suicide and other attacks in the past, including the 2004 infiltration of a military post in Gaza in which six IDF soldiers died.

Islamic Jihad confirmed the three men belonged to its armed wing after initial confusion over their affiliation.

The militants killed in the attack were named as Ziad Ghanam, Riad Ghanam and Mohammad al-Ra'i.

Military sources said al-Ra'i had launched an RPG rocket in the Philadelphi Route in May 2004 that killed five IDF soldiers.

Abu Mujahid, a spokesman for Popular Resistance Committees, had previously said one of the dead belonged to his group.

The three men's bodies were badly disfigured, medical officials said, making identification difficult.

Abu Ahmed, an Islamic Jihad spokesman, said one of the dead men, Ziad Ghanam, was the group's senior leader in southern Gaza.

"This will not affect Islamic Jihad," he said of the air attack. "We continue our path of resistance until martyrdom or victory."

Islamic Jihad has taken the lead on military activity against Israel as Hamas struggles to consolidate its hold on Gaza.

The airstrike came after a rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza. The rocket landed inside the Palestinian territory.

2 Qassams hit Israel

Late Friday night, two Qassam rockets were fired at the western Negev from the Gaza strip, Israel Radio reported.

The radio reported no injuries. One of the rockets caused damage to a shipping container when it fell adjacent to a factory.

The second rocket caused minor damage to a house in one of the western Negev communities.

The rocket fire comes after at least 12 Palestinians were killed Wednesday in two separate Israel Defense Forces operations in Gaza, the heaviest fighting between the IDF and Hamas militants inside the strip in months.

At least 10 of the Palestinians killed in the operations were militants and roughly 40 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes.