Dr Bakr Abu Sufiya, head of the emergency room at Gaza City's Shifa hospital, named the latest victim as 14-year-old Nidal al-Madhoun.

The boy died from serious injuries sustained in an Israeli air strike on Jabaliya camp several hours earlier, in which one Palestinian militant was killed, the doctor told AFP.

Two more Palestinian teenagers died of their injuries after being seriously wounded by Israeli army gunfire in Jabaliya, Palestinian medics said.

Their deaths brought to 10 the number of Palestinians killed in spiralling violence in the area on Sunday, the fifth straight day of a massive Israeli operation. Six of them were militants, Palestinian sources said.

Since the start of the army's operation "Days of Penitence" late on Tuesday, a total of 69 people have been killed, 66 of them Palestinians.

Al-Madhoun's death raises to 4,422 the number of people killed since the outbreak of the intifada or uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000, including 3,398 Palestinians and 953 Israelis.

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