An explosion destroyed the house of a militant leader late Thursday in Gaza City, apparently an accident with explosives, Palestinian security officials said.

Two people were rescued alive from the rubble. The security officials said the blast was caused by explosives inside the house.

The house belonged to Talal Abu Safiyah, commander of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine forces in the area. The PFLP is a small, radical Palestinian group. The PFLP said the house was hit by a missile fired from an Israeli F-16 warplane, but other Palestinians said they did not hear a warplane overhead, and the Israeli military said there was no airstrike...