Barrage of rockets fired from Gaza disrupts ceasefire

Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Thursday, hours after a ceasefire was declared to end two days of intense fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group, the heaviest escalation in months that killed at least 34 Palestinians, including three women and eight children.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the new wave of rockets and it wasn’t clear how this would affect the fate of the ceasefire.

The Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 0330 GMT.

Spokesman for the Islamic Jihad group Musab al Berim said the ceasefire was based on a list of demands presented by his group late on Wednesday, including a halt to Israeli targeted killings of the group’s leaders.

The initial fighting broke out early Tuesday after an Israeli air strike killed Bahaa Abu al Atta, the commander of Islamic Jihad and his wife, Asmaa.

Israeli warplanes also launched air strikes targeting Islamic Jihad member Akram al Ajouri in Damascus, Syria.

Two people, including Ajouri's son, were killed and 10 others injured, but the Islamic Jihad leader remained unhurt.

In retaliation for the Atta killing, the Al Quds Brigades, which is the military wing of Islamic Jihad, launched dozens of rockets towards Israeli cities, to which Israel responded with air strikes across Gaza.

Targeting Iranian proxies 

Tuesday's pre-dawn Israeli strike came almost simultaneously as another strike attributed to Israel, which targeted a senior Islamic Jihad commander based in Syria. The strikes appeared to be a new surge in the open warfare between Israel and Iranian proxies in the region.

Iran has forces based in Syria, Israel's northern neighbour, and supports Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. In Gaza, it supplies Islamic Jihad with cash, weapons, and expertise.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also claimed that Iran is using Iraq and far-off Yemen, where Tehran supports Shia Houthi rebels at war with a Saudi-led coalition backing the government, to plan attacks against Israel. 

Israel frequently strikes Iranian interests in Syria, but Tuesday's attack in Damascus appeared to be a rare assassination attempt of a Palestinian in the Syrian capital.

Six from single family killed in strike

The dead included six Palestinians from a single family who were killed in an Israeli airstrike at their house in Deir al Balah town, central Gaza, early on Thursday, the health ministry said. It was the deadliest incidents since the beginning of the current fighting.

In Gaza, schools and public institutions were closed for a second day and there were few cars on the streets, with people mostly staying indoors.

After nightfall, Gaza City resembled a ghost town, with streets empty and the whooshing sounds of outgoing rockets and explosions of Israeli airstrikes heard. Virtually the only vehicles on the roads were wailing ambulances.

In a scene that could fuel more violence, phone video shot by someone living nearby being circulated on social media showed neighbours and emergency workers frantically digging through the debris in search of bodies following the Thursday morning strike.

Twelve people were also wounded.

UN envoy in Cairo

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov arrived in Cairo on Wednesday afternoon, airport officials said, following reports he was to hold talks on halting the fighting.

The UN and Egypt have been instrumental in mediating previous ceasefires between Israel and Gaza-based militants.

But a source close to the discussions aimed at mediating a truce warned that the risk of further escalation remained high.

Netanyahu said Islamic Jihad must stop its stop rocket attacks or "absorb more and more blows".

He reiterated his warning that "this could take time" and said Israel would respond to attacks "without mercy".

Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al Barayem said the group was not interested in mediation for now as it retaliated to the killing of one of its commanders.

The flare-up raised fears of a new all-out conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, who have fought three wars since 2008.

360 rockets

Since Israel's killing of Ata in what was believed to be a drone strike, at least 360 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza and dozens have been intercepted by air defences, according to the army.

There have been no Israeli deaths, though damage has been caused and one rocket narrowly missed cars on a busy highway.

Israeli medics said they had treated 48 people with light wounds.

Unusually and in a sign it was seeking to avoid a wider conflict, Israel's announced targets were confined to Islamic Jihad sites and not those belonging to Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza.

The flare-up comes at a politically sensitive time for Israel.

A September 17 general election ended in a deadlock and a new government is yet to be formed.

It was the second election since April, when polls also ended inconclusively.