GAZA, Oct 10: An Israeli aircraft fired a missile at a house in Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp on Sunday, killing a Palestinian man and wounding three women, witnesses said.

The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident on the 11th day of an offensive in the northern Gaza Strip aimed at stopping Palestinian militants from firing rockets into Israel.

Witnesses said a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft destroyed a house in the heart of Jabalya, killing a Palestinian man who worked in the camp as a teacher and wounding three women.

At least 88 Palestinians, 50 of them militants and the rest civilians, have been killed in the offensive, Israel's biggest thrust into Gaza since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000.

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians, including five militants, in Gaza on Saturday. Three Israelis have also died since the start of the raid. The dead on Saturday included a Hamas militant commander in Jabalya, where much of the fighting has been concentrated, witnesses said.

The attack on Sderot, which sees almost daily rocket attacks by militants, has fuelled right-wing opposition to the prime minister's plan to evacuate all soldiers and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005. - Reuters