Last Friday, Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 10 people including a 5-year-old girl and injured 55 others.

Israel has unleashed a wave of air attacks on Gaza since Friday, causing the death toll from the Israeli assault to rise to at least 44, including 15 children, with more than 300 people injured.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“The last war caused widespread devastation here in the Gaza Strip. A year later, there has been almost no reconstruction,” reported from Gaza City. “This isolated coastal territory is impoverished, its people are barely recovering. And many fear another round of escalation.”

Egypt said it was engaged in intensive talk with both sides to calm the situation and ease the violence.

Source: Al Jazeera