At least six people are dead, four of them children, as Israel and Islamic militants traded bombs, rockets and mutual accusations across the Gaza border on a second day of escalating violence.
Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the enclave, said the children were among the dead from a blast on Saturday close to the Jabalya refugee camp and blamed Israel.
The Israeli military denied it was responsible, saying the explosion was caused by a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch.
It distributed a video which appeared to show a rocket being launched from Gaza at night and then veering immediately off course and plunging into a built-up area.
While the Israeli strikes went on, hitting what the military said were weapons depots hidden in residential areas and destroying a number of houses, Islamic Jihad fired rocket salvoes as far as Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv.
At least 24 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed and 203 wounded during the two days, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Palestinian militants fired more than 400 rockets at Israel – most of them intercepted, setting off air raid sirens and sending people running to bomb shelters. There were no reports of serious casualties, the Israeli ambulance service said.
The cross-border clash, which shattered more than a year of relative calm around Gaza, began when Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and hitting a series of what it said were military targets.
Read the article in The New Daily.