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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Hamas has killed 11 suspected informers for Israel, a Gaza security official said, a day after Israel killed three of the group's top military commanders in an airstrike on a house in southern Gaza Strip.

The security official said the 11 suspected informers were killed early on Friday at the Gaza City police headquarters.

He said the 11 men had previously been sentenced by Gaza courts, according to the Associated Press news agency.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the incident with reporters.

The killings of the 11 were also reported by Al Rai and Al Majd, two websites linked to Hamas.

Israel's intelligence services rely, in part, on informers to pinpoint the whereabouts of Hamas leaders.

"Israel has a long and successful history of recruiting collaborators and informers both in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip, and they do so through a variety of different means: sometimes it is financial inducements; other times it is blackmail, bullying, threats, promises [and] maybe intimidating family members," said Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland, reporting from west Jerusalem.

She said that by publicising the retribution brought down on the 11 people, Hamas was sending a deterrent to other Palestinians.

The news came as two Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike, the latest since Egyptian-led cease-fire talks collapsed three days ago.

Ashraf al-Kidra, a Gaza health official, said on Friday the two were workers at a livestock farm that was hit in the airstrike.

The Israeli military said it carried out 20 airstrikes early on Friday, targeting rocket launchers and weapons sites. It said Gaza fighters fired two rockets at Israel.

Friday's fighting came as funerals were held for three senior Hamas commanders killed by Israeli air raids.

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, said Mohamed Abo Shamaleh, Raed al-Attar and Mohamed Barhoum were killed in an attack in Rafah on Thursday, little more than a day after an attempt on the life of its leader Mohammed Deif.

The slain commanders' supporters later took over the streets as their funeral procession snaked through Rafah, which bears scars of Israeli bombing from previous days.

Another 31 people were killed in other Israeli strikes in Gaza since on Thursday, raising the overall death toll to 2,087 in 46 days of conflict.

Israel meanwhile said it was rotating 10,000 troops - meaning fresh soldiers were being prepared for possible future operations - a day after the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel's offensive may be an extended operation.

Hamas condemned the assasinations, with Sami Abu Zuhri, the group's spokesman, calling them a "big Israeli crime" for which it would pay.

The fighting resumed three days ago after Egyptian attempts to broker an end to the monthlong war, with Palestinians firing dozens of rockets and Israel responding with airstrikes across Gaza.

*Agencies