Two Palestinian sisters, aged at two and nine, were killed and their mother critically wounded Wednesday evening in an Israeli tank shelling at the eastern town of Jabalya in northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

Medics at Shiffa Hospital in Gaza City said that two-year-old Shaf Oukal and nine-year-old Mary Oukal were killed, and their mother Amal Oukal, 40 years old, was seriously wounded.

Meanwhile, another two daughters -- 12-year-old Ibtisam and seven-year-old Sommaya, were also injured.

Medics said that a death toll in Israeli air and ground offensives in northern Gaza Strip since pre-dawn Wednesday rose to 18.

Source: Xinhua