JERUSALEM — An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian men in the Gaza Strip and wounded two children on Monday evening, according to the Israeli military and Palestinian health officials, continuing the increased violence between Israel and Gaza this year.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the strike had eliminated a “real-time threat,” targeting a group that was preparing to launch rockets into southern Israel.

Palestinian witnesses and officials said a missile fired from a drone into the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun had killed Musab Zaanin, 25, and wounded Yousef Nasser, 22, who died hours later. The militant movement Islamic Jihad said that Mr. Zaanin was a member of its military wing.

A spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza said a boy, 7, and a girl, 12, had been wounded in the attack.