Mother And Toddler 'Killed In Gaza Airstrike'

A pregnant mother and her three-year-old daughter have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, say Palestinian officials.

It comes after a surge in violence over the last 12 days that has left four Israelis and 23 Palestinians dead.

Israel says it carried out airstrikes on two Hamas weapons factories in response to rocket attacks from Gaza.

Palestinian medical officials said a pregnant woman and her daughter living nearby were killed in the raids.

Meanwhile, Israeli police said they foiled an attempt to drive a car bomb into Jerusalem on Sunday.

They said they pulled over a vehicle driven by a Palestinian woman who detonated an explosive when an officer approached.

The woman suffered burns to 40% of her body and the officer was also injured, a spokesman for Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital said.

Palestinians disputed the police account, saying an electrical fire in the vehicle was mistaken for an explosion.

Recent violence has been partly fuelled by Muslim anger over increasing Jewish access to the al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's walled Old City.

Palestinians have been attacking Israelis with knives, rocks and, on at least one occasion, guns.

Bloodshed has spread from the holy city and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Israel's interior and Hamas-ruled Gaza, sparking fears of a third Palestinian uprising.

Earlier, 37 Palestinian protesters were wounded by gunfire from Israeli troops during clashes in the West Bank, according to Palestinian medical officials.

On Saturday, Palestinians carried out two stabbings in Jerusalem before being shot dead by police, while two Palestinian youths were killed near the Gaza border .