At least six of the dead were militants, although it was not known to which armed groups they belonged, Palestinian hospital and security officials said.

Twenty-six other people -- six of them children -- were wounded in the Israeli operations around Rafah, hospital officials said, adding that seven of the injured were in a critical state. Several women were among the wounded.

Anis Abu Awaad, the boy who died, was killed along with three militants in an air raid, while a tank shell killed two other militants early on Thursday, security officials said.