GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip ? An Israeli aircraft struck a training camp used by Palestinian militants Friday, killing five members of a group that has close ties to the ruling Hamas movement.

The air strike raised already heightened tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and sparked a new crisis for Islamic militant group Hamas, which is under heavy international pressure to renounce violence since taking the helm of the government.

The Israelis hit a base used by the Popular Resistance Committees, an umbrella group responsible for numerous rocket attacks against Israel. During five years of fighting, the Israeli army has killed dozens of militants in so-called targeted killings.

The attack scattered body parts and left pools of blood in a field just yards from the home of Moumtaz Dourghmush, the top militant commander in the resistance committees.

Israeli security officials say he was involved in an attack last month on the main Israel-Gaza commercial crossing, which they said was planned in coordination with Hamas.