Adham Abu Selmiya, a spokesman for Gaza's emergency services had initially put the toll at six dead in raids which began early on Wednesday, but later revised down the toll, citing confusion over a body which reached the morgue in several pieces.

The first attack on Wednesday hit a car in the southern city of Rafah.

Early Thursday morning, an air strike on a sports hall in the northern town of Beit Lahiya killed civilian Salam al-Masri, and injured another 20, one critically.

"We initially reported two dead in Beit Lahiya because the body arrived in two halves," Abu Selmiya told AFP, saying they later realised it was the same person.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011