At least six people have been killed in a series of apparently coordinated attacks in southern Israel.

Israeli officials say the attacks on vehicles took place in quick succession Thursday near the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. They say at least 25 people have been wounded.

The Israeli military says in one case, attackers fired on a bus as it traveled from the town of Beersheba to Eilat on a highway that runs along the Egyptian border.

The say unidentified attackers also opened fire on a military patrol and on a private vehicle.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said terrorists were behind the incidents and asserted that the source was the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.