The hardline Islamic Jihad group said it carried out the attack in retaliation for the killing of three of its militants by the Israeli army near the northern West Bank town of Jenin on Friday.

"This is our first riposte to the crimes of the Zionist enemy which assassinated three heroes of the Al-Quds Brigades (Islamic Jihad's military wing)," the group said in a statement.

Islamic Jihad was not party to a November truce under which Israeli troops pulled out of Gaza in return for a commitment from militant groups to end rocket fire from the territory.