An Israeli air strike on Gaza killed two Palestinian children and a teenager on Tuesday, a day after Israel’s defense minister vowed to intensify military operations in the Strip, Reuters reported.

Witnesses said Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a car in the Jabaleya refugee camp. Apparently the occupants of the vehicle managed to escape before the blast.

But the targeted car exploded amid a group of Palestinian children playing at a crowded market, killing a 7-year-old girl, her 5-year-old brother and a 16-year-old boy.

Fourteen bystanders, including many children, were also injured in the explosion.

Hundreds of angry Palestinians gathered at the blast scene to protest the deadly Israeli attack.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army confirmed that it carried out the attack, claiming that it targeted a member of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, a resistance group linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.

Israel has carried out several strikes at targets in Gaza, often claiming that they’re aimed at deterring Palestinian fighters from firing rockets at Israeli targets.

But these brutal attacks usually kill innocent Palestinian civilians.

Last week, President Abbas accused Israel of engaging in "state terrorism" after an Israeli missile hit a van carrying Palestinian fighters in Gaza City killed 11 people, nine of them civilians.

And earlier this month, eight Palestinians - including seven members of one family - were killed while picnicking on a Gaza beach in an explosion blamed on the Israeli army.

Despite the almost daily civilian deaths, the Israeli army didn’t stop its military operations in Gaza. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, under pressure from residents of border towns frequently hit by Palestinian rockets, promised new military counter-measures "within a matter of dozens of hours" but did not elaborate.

According to Israeli Radio, armored units are massing outside northern Gaza.

Although Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip last year, it didn’t end its reckless shelling and air strikes on the region.

However, there have been no major ground operations in Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal.