Gaza death toll from Israeli strikes continues to rise as tensions escalate

At least 29 people, including six children, have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

Earlier on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry put the number of people killed at 32, but a further ministry statement brought the number down to 29, including six children and four women.

The ministry said that the victims had been killed since Friday in Israeli strikes that also wounded 253 people. 

Israeli authorities deny blame and say the children were killed on Saturday by a rocket fired by Palestinian fighters towards Israel that fell short. The claim could not be independently verified.

In response, the Islamic Jihad group said it had fired rockets at West Jerusalem from Gaza on Sunday. Witnesses report hearing rocket sirens and explosions in Israeli communities.

The group said in a statement they had "fired rockets" at the city, marking the first time West Jerusalem was targeted in this round of violence.

READ MORE: Palestine's death toll climbs as Israel continues bombarding Gaza

Rising tensions 

Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on Gaza on Saturday citing an "imminent threat of attack" by the Islamic Jihad group.

At least seven people, including a child, were killed in one attack on Rafah in south Gaza, local authorities said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Al-Quds Brigades said in a statement that Khaled Mansour, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad group, was killed in the attack on Rafah.

The attacks came amid rising tensions across Palestinian territories since Monday, when Israeli forces detained Bassam al-Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad, in a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The Israeli army said on Sunday that twenty members of the Islamic Jihad group were arrested overnight by security forces in the occupied West Bank.

READ MORE: 'It was a catastrophe': Israel gives Gaza locals 15 minutes to flee homes