At least 17 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in an attack carried out by Israeli army in Gaza strip.

The violence broke out when Gaza was invaded by Israeli armored vehicles and helicopters.

The son of the most influential leader in the territory was also killed along with a civilian working at a farm, the Press Association reports.

Thirteen of the victims were Hamas militants while the identities of three others were not known. Other 45 Palestinians, militants and civilians, were injured in the attack.

Hussam Zahar, 24, the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, was killed and Zahar pledged to respond to the attack “in the appropriate way. We will defend ourselves by all means."

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said that Hussam Zahar wasn’t the target of Israeli forces.

The attack on Gaza was named by the Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas as a “massacre.”

He said: “What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people. Our people cannot keep silent over these massacres. These massacres cannot bring peace,” AFP reports.

The attack comes just as the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were relaunched at a U.S conference last November.

The operation on Tuesday was an exchange of fire between the militants and the soldiers.

Hamas claimed that 17 mortars were fired from their side at two border crossings with Israel.

The military said that 14 mortars were fired since midnight Monday.

According to government spokesman Mark Regev, the attacks were due to rockets launched against Israel.

He said: “This is the result, unfortunately, of the ongoing attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Over the last months there has been continuous firing of rockets and mortar shells against our civilian population.”

The latest attack carried by the Hamas, made victim an Ecuadorian who was working at a farm in Israel was found dead.

Israeli army is carrying air and grounds raids in Gaza almost every day in order to stop rocket and mortar fire from the territory.

Negotiators began to talk on Monday about borders, refugees and Jerusalem after Bush’s visit who wants the conflict solved in his last year in office.