Israel-Gaza fighting continues for second day after militant's death

Cross-border violence between Israel and militants in Gaza is continuing after an Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander.

After an overnight lull, rocket fire towards Israel resumed and Israeli aircraft conducted retaliatory strikes on Wednesday.
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 32 Palestinians, including children, have been killed by Israeli fire.
In Israel, 63 people have been treated for injuries and stress symptoms.

• Life in the Gaza Strip
• Is peace between Israel and Palestinians out of reach?

Late on Wednesday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) offered terms for a ceasefire, which included an end to Israel's targeted killings of militants and Gaza border protesters and well as steps to ease the blockade of the Palestinian enclave.
Israel has so far made no public comments on the truce offer.

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After a six-hour pause, PIJ militants resumed firing rockets at around 06:30 (04:30 GMT) on Wednesday, triggering air-raid sirens in southern and central Israel.

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Most of the rockets fired by Palestinian militants have been intercepted by Israeli air defences

At least 360 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza since Tuesday, the Israeli army says. It adds that 90% of the missiles were intercepted.
An elderly woman was slightly wounded by broken glass after a rocket hit a house in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israeli media reported. Another rocket hit a factory in the southern town of Sderot.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had bombed more PIJ targets in Gaza on Wednesday in response, including a military headquarters in Khan Younis and a factory manufacturing warheads for long-range rockets in the south of the strip.
The IDF said "20 terrorists" were killed, most of them from Islamic Jihad.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas militants, said 32 people had been killed in Israeli strikes, at least a third of them civilians.
It said six Palestinians from a single family were killed in a strike in the early hours of Thursday morning at their home in Deir al-Balah town, central Gaza Strip.
It was the deadliest incident reported since the beginning of the current fighting.
The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incident.

Image copyright Reuters

Image caption The rocket fire triggered air-raid sirens in southern and central Israel

PIJ said the dead included members of its military wing, the al-Quds Brigades. Khaled Faraj, a field commander, was killed in a strike in central Gaza.
UN Middle East peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned that the continuing escalation was "very dangerous".
"The indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars against population centres is absolutely unacceptable and must stop immediately," he said. "There can be no justification for any attacks against civilians."
In a statement, Save the Children charity said it was "deeply concerned by the recently escalated hostilities", calling for an immediate ceasefire.
"For the second day, hundreds of thousands of children are impacted by school closures across Gaza and southern Israel, with parents terrified of the impact of further retaliation.
"Our teams in Gaza have been unable to go to work and our programmes have been suspended," the charity said.