Violence between Gaza, Israel shows no signs of abating on second day
The Gaza Health Ministry raised the death toll after 13 people were killed in a spate of Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday. Roughly 60 people were injured since fighting began early Tuesday, it added.
Local sources said that the majority of those killed were militants from Islamic Jihad, while four were civilians, including a child.
Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance service said that since late Tuesday it had treated 48 people for slight injuries. Israeli schools within 40 kilometres of Gaza remained closed on Wednesday.
Militants have been firing rockets from Gaza into Israel after it conducted targeted strikes against two leaders of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which called the killing "a declaration of war."
More than 220 rockets have been fired at targets across southern Israel since Tuesday, according to the Israeli army, with dozens being intercepted by the country's Iron Dome aerial defence system.
Despite media reports that Egypt and the United Nations are trying to de-escalate tensions, with the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process reportedly heading to Cairo, neither Israel nor Islamic Jihad showed signs that it was willing to back down.
Ahmad al-Modallah, the senior Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, said in a statement that it is still early to speak about a truce with Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would continue to respond to any attacks.
"I believe that Islamic Jihad is starting to internalize this message. They understand that we will continue to strike them without mercy," said Netanyahu on Wednesday after a meeting with his cabinet.
Baha Abu al-Ata, the 42-year-old leader of the Quds Brigades, which is the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, was killed alongside his wife in an aerial attack on their house on Tuesday.
Three Israeli rocket attacks west of the Syrian capital Damascus targeted the house of Akram al-Ajouri, another leader of the Quds Brigades.
Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that the militant had not been killed in the attacks, but that his son, Mouaz, and another person were dead, and 10 other people were injured.
Islamic Jihad is the second-most powerful group in Gaza, after the coastal enclave's rulers, the Hamas movement, and has gained influence since 2014 with the help of financial backing from Iran.
The group, which has ties to Hezbollah and is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and others, is considered more militant and behind most rocket attacks.
Hamas, which thus far has stayed mostly out of the conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad, on Wednesday issued a statement expressing its support for the militant group in its fight against Israel.
Israel tightened a blockade on the Palestinian coastal area more than a decade ago, a blockade which is now also supported by Egypt. Both countries justify the measure, which affects some 2 million people who live under difficult conditions in Gaza, with security interests.
