GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip » The Islamic militant group Hamas says three of its senior military leaders have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas says in a text message sent to media that the three — Mohammed Abu Shamaleh, Mohammed Barhoum and Raed al-Attar — were killed in the Israeli airstrike near the southern town of Rafah early on Thursday.

They are considered to be in the senior levels of the Hamas military leadership.

Palestinian police and health officials say that six people were killed in the Rafah strike and that dozens of others remain trapped in the rubble of a four-story building targeted by Israel.