A Palestinian militant was killed in an explosion in a car in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday which Palestinian officials blamed on Israel.
The Israeli army denied any involvement in the death of Khaled Abu Sitta, a senior leader of the Abu el-Reesh Brigades, who was killed when his car blew up as he drove at night between the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.
Palestinian security sources and members of the Abu el-Reesh Brigades said an Israeli missile fired from an unidentified aircraft hit Sitta's car, killing him and turning the vehicle into charred and twisted metal.
The Abu el-Reesh Brigades said they would avenge Sitta's death.
"We do not forget the blood of our martyrs and our reaction will be strong and painful," said Abu Haron, a spokesman for the group, which is linked to the mainstream Fatah faction.
The Israeli army, which often openly admits to strikes on militants' cars, denied involvement in the incident.
"The Israel Defense Forces was not involved in this incident," an army spokeswoman said.
Israel has vowed to track down and kill militants behind rocket attacks carried out by militant groups in Gaza including the Abu el-Reesh Brigades.
On Wednesday, it killed four militants in the Gaza Strip in a strike on their car.
Palestinian militants have also occasionally been killed when explosives they were transporting detonated prematurely.
Earlier on Saturday, militants launched two rockets at an Israeli farming community near Gaza and the army responded by firing artillery shells towards open fields in northern Gaza.
Nobody was hurt in either incident.
Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in September after a 38-year occupation.