At least 24 Palestinians have been killed and more than 200 injured after Israeli airstrikes shelled Gaza for a second day.
Six people, including four children, died Saturday after explosions destroyed the narrow Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said the children were killed in an Israeli explosion near the Jabalya refugee camp.
Tensions have escalated deadly between Israel and Palestine over the past two days
(EPA)
However, the Israeli military denied responsibility, claiming that a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch caused the explosion.
The recent bloodshed began on Friday after Israel targeted the senior commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The airstrikes continued throughout the night, killing a number of civilians, including a five-year-old girl who died along with her cousin.
At least 24 Palestinians, including six children, were killed and 203 injured during the two days of shelling, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Palestinian militants reportedly fired back more than 400 rockets, though Israel said most were intercepted.
While some rockets were fired as far as Tel Aviv, the Israeli ambulance service confirmed there were no reports of serious injuries.
Israel has insisted on attacking weapons depots hidden in residential areas, resulting in the destruction of homes. The army said it had arrested 19 members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Saturday.
Egypt said it was engaged in intense talks to calm the situation. Further escalation would depend largely on whether Hamas chose to join the fight alongside the smaller Islamic Jihad group.
Palestinian medics transport an injured girl to hospital after a reported Israeli attack in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip,
(AFP via Getty Images)
An Egyptian intelligence delegation led by Major General Ahmed Abdelkhaliq arrived in Israel on Saturday and was due to travel to Gaza for mediation talks, two Egyptian security sources said. They hoped to get a day-long ceasefire to carry out the talks, the sources added.
“Intensive efforts have been made this evening and the movement has listened to the mediators, but these efforts have not yet reached an agreement,” said an Islamic Jihad official.
Israel halted planned fuel shipments to Gaza shortly before it struck on Friday, paralyzing the area’s lone power plant and cutting electricity to about eight hours a day, and receiving warnings from health officials that hospitals would become serious within days. affected.
The border had been largely silent since May last year, when 11 days of fierce fighting between Israel and militants killed at least 250 in Gaza and 13 in Israel.
UN and European Union envoys to the Middle East expressed concern about the violence and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority condemned Israel’s attacks.
Meanwhile, the United States said it supports Israel’s right to defend itself, but urged all parties to avoid further escalation.
About 2.3 million Palestinians are crammed into the narrow coastal strip of the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Egypt severely restricting the movement of people and goods in and out of the enclave and imposing a naval blockade, citing security concerns.