Israeli airstrike kills 30 Palestinians in Gaza Strip

Kathmandu: Israeli airstrike has killed 30 Palestinians and injured more than 90 others on the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry has said.

The victims of the air attack include six children and three women as well as the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) rocket force and his deputy.

Palestinian factions in Gaza continued to fire rockets in retaliation from the besieged coastal enclave into Israel, killing one person on Thursday.

Amid mediation efforts by Egypt, neither side seemed ready to douse the worst flare-up since August, now in its third day. Egypt said it was trying to secure a truce but so far, its efforts have proved futile.

The initial Israeli air attack on Tuesday that set off the exchange of fire killed three senior PIJ fighters and at least 10 civilians, most of them women and children.

More than 90 people have been wounded in the attacks that destroyed five buildings and damaged more than 300 apartments, said Salama Marouf, chairman of the media office for the Hamas group that governs Gaza.