Israeli aircraft have fired missiles at a car carrying Palestinians, killing six people, including a 5-year-old child.

The air strike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Friday came as the Palestinian prime minister and president tried to settle some of their differences in a meeting.

Witnesses said Israeli aircraft fired three missiles. Besides the fighters' vehicle, another car carrying civilians may have been struck, they said.

Fourteen people were wounded, including one person who is now in a coma, Palestinian security officials said.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a Palestinian Authority spokesman, said the strike was a "dangerous escalation" and called on the international community to take action.

PHOTO CAPTION

The bodies of the six Palestinians killed in an Israeli missile strike are seen as mourners pray during their funeral at the Awda mosque in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip Saturday April 8, 2006. (AP)