A senior commander of a Palestinian armed group, Islamic Jihad and five children have been killed in the Gaza Strip as Israeli jets continued their bombing of the besieged enclave.
In a statement on Sunday, Islamic Jihad confirmed that Khaled Mansour, its commander in the south of the Gaza Strip, had been killed in an Israeli raid on Saturday.
Mansour is the second high-ranking member of Islamic Jihad to be killed since Israel began attacking Gaza on Friday, when it assassinated the group’s commander in the north, Taysir al-Jabari.
Israel has warned that its campaign against Islamic Jihad could last a week, and its attacks on Gaza have destroyed apartment buildings and struck refugee camps.
At least four children were killed in a blast close to the Jabaliya refugee camp on Saturday, according to Hamas, the group that governs the Gaza Strip. It blamed Israel for the deaths, but the military denied any responsibility, saying the explosion was caused by a failed rocket launched by Islamic Jihad.
The claims could not immediately be verified.
The latest deaths bring the tally of children killed since Friday to six, and the total death toll among Palestinians to 29.
At least 250 others have also been wounded, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Palestinian fighters have responded to the bombings by launching more than 400 rockets at Israel. Most of the rockets were intercepted, and there have been no reports of serious casualties, according to the Israeli ambulance service.
The violence has raised fears of another war on Gaza by Israel, just 15 months after a monthlong conflict that killed more than 260 people.
Israel resumed its latest offensive on the beseiged enclave on Friday following what it called a clear and imminent threat from Islamic Jihad on its territory, this was after days of unrest linked to the group by the Israeli Government.
