An air strike carried out by the Israeli army in southern Gaza Strip ended with a young Palestinian girl being killed and her mother wounded, authorities said.

The Israeli military had targeted a group of militants, but, according to the security forces in the Hamas-run territory, the shell missed its target and landed near a house. The blast also wounded two women who were in the area.  

The Israeli military confirmed the attack.

"The air force conducted a raid and fired at Palestinian gunmen," an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

The target of the attack was an area from which armed Palestinians earlier fired rockets.
The attack was carried out after Palestinian militants shelled Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel. The attack killed a civilian and wounded four others.

Medics at the hospital in Khan Younis, a town in the southern Gaza, identified the dead child as Aya al-Manjar. The mother of the four-year-old also suffered severe injuries in the explosion and is receiving treatment at the medical facility.

The two were outside their house near Khan Yunis when the drone-fired missile struck, local witnesses said.

Palestinian militants in Gaza usually fire rockets at southern Israel as a response to the military raids carried out by the Israeli army on their territory.