A leading member of Hamas was killed and eight others injured in Israeli airstrikes on three targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources confirmed Saturday. The airstrikes took place late Friday, according to dpa. Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, announced that one of its leaders, Issa Abdul-Hadi Al-Batran, 40, died in the strike at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Medical sources said that eight Palestinian had been injured in the strike, aimed at a training compound of Hamas security forces. Hamas security sources said that the Israeli jet carried out two other strikes on the eastern and southern Gaza Strip. It has been the most lethal strike from Israeli forces in months. They said the planes targeted an empty area in eastern Gaza Strip and smuggling tunnels dug under the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. In a second incident, the Israeli army opened fire Saturday against three Palestinians in the southern border crossing of Erez. According to Palestinian reports they were looking for metal scraps near the fence which separates Gaza from Egypt and three were injured. -- SPA