The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Gaza City

An Israeli missile strike in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun killed three Palestinians near the border fence with Israel on Saturday, a Palestinian hospital official said.

Israel confirmed the attack amid confused reports on the identities of the three men.

Doctor Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Gaza emergency medical services, initially said the men were militants because of the location of the strike.

But he later identified them as Mohammed al-Zaanin, Ibrahim Abu Jarad, and Mohammed Hassanein, employees at the Bank of Jordan, who were picnicking near the border with Israel when the missile struck.

"They were in an area near the border and they were having lunch outside. They were not militants, but civilians," Hassanein told AFP.