PLO slams Israeli 'war crime' after three children killed in Gaza

A senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on Monday strongly denounced the killing of three Gaza children overnight, calling the deliberate targeting of minors a "war crime".

The Israeli military said that one of its aircrafts fired on a group of Palestinians near the Gaza border who it claims were planting a bomb.

Local reports say the boys, named as Khalid Basem Said, Abdel-Hami Abu Daher, and Mohammed Ibrahim Assutri, were laying nets to catch birds.

Palestinian medics say the three boys were aged 12 to 14.

Aisha Abu Daher said her son Abdel-Hami had no links to militants in Gaza.

"The Israeli occupation army has been deliberately targeting and killing Palestinian children. This is a clear war crime in violation of international law and international humanitarian law," the PLO's Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.

"As long as the international community remains silent, the decades-long injustice suffered by the Palestinian people will continue unabated," she warned.

At least 214 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since protests began in Gaza on 30 March.

The majority have been killed by snipers during demonstrations, while smaller numbers have been killed by airstrikes or tank fire.

The protesters are calling to be allowed to return to lands their families fled or were expelled from in the 1948 war that accompanied Israel's creation.

They are also protesting over Israel's crippling blockade.