The Israeli army Wednesday demolished 12 Palestinian houses and a school in a village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, residents and security sources said.

The residents said that the Israeli army bulldozers demolished 12 Palestinian-owned houses in the village of Kherbet Tana, allegedly saying the constructions were illegally built.

The residents said that the demolition on Wednesday is the third of its kind, where around 45 houses were demolished in the village this year. Tana, with a population of 180, is a small village in Nablus area.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli army arrested overnight nine Palestinian activists in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Tulkarem and Hebron, saying they are wanted by the Israeli security forces.

In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Palestinian witnesses said Israeli warplanes struck at predawn on Wednesday two targets in the strip in response to earlier homemade rockets attacks carried out by Gaza militants.

They said that the Israeli F16 warplanes struck a poultry farm near the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, injuring one Palestinian civilian and causing severe damages.

The warplanes also struck a tunnel used for smuggling under the borderline between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt, the witnesses said, adding that the tunnel was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

Israel radio quoted an Israeli army spokesman as saying that Israeli war jets struck a weapons' depot and a smuggling tunnel in response to earlier mortar shells fired by Gaza militants at southern Israel.