Israeli says a cease-fire that it put in place during the Egyptian prime minister's visit to Gaza collapsed Friday after Palestinian militants continued to fire rockets into southern Israel.
Israel responded with a bomb attack on northern Gaza that Palestinian officials said killed another Palestinian. The combined death toll from attacks on both sides this week is now at 16.
Israel had said earlier it would suspend its military offensive against the Gaza Strip while Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil was there as long as Hamas militants also held their fire. The Egyptian prime minister arrived in Gaza early Friday and was expected to visit for about three hours.
The Palestinian Authority has repeated its call for the U.N. Security Council to take action to end Israeli air raids on Gaza.
A day after the Security Council held an inconclusive emergency meeting on the escalating violence, Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour called on the group to protect Palestinian civilians from the "brutal" attacks that are "bringing life to a standstill" in Gaza.
Palestinians officials say two people died as Israeli war planes slammed dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip Thursday. Barrages of rockets were fired back at Israel from Gaza, with one strike killing at least three Israelis in an apartment complex.
On Wednesday, an Israeli missile strike on Gaza killed the top military commander of Hamas. Hamas has vowed revenge and warned that Israel had opened up what it calls "the gates of hell."
Israeli officials say missiles fired from Gaza approached Tel Aviv Thursday but fell into the sea. Palestinian militants issued a statement claiming responsibility, saying they had fired Iranian-made rockets.
Israel dropped leaflets warning Gazans to stay away from buildings and locations run by the military wing of Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told VOA Thursday there is reason to worry.
"Any time violence springs up in the Middle East wherever it is, it's cause for concern because you never know quite where it's all going to lead," he said.
Panetta also said he hopes all sides will recognize the need to try to get back to negotiate a permanent peace agreement.
In the meantime, Israeli tanks and ground forces continue to gather along the border. Thousands in Gaza took to the streets Thursday for the funeral of Hamas military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari.
The head of the secret service in Gaza, Tawfeek Tirawi, has accused Israel of war crimes.
Israeli officials argue the airstrikes are a direct response to almost daily Palestinian rocket strikes on Israel and have warned Hamas members not to "show their faces above ground" in the next few days.
Israel's Shin Bet intelligence service said Jaabari was killed because of his "decade-long terrorist activity," including the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006. Jaabari was the most senior Hamas official to be killed since an Israeli invasion of Gaza four years ago.
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