Israel has killed 30 Palestinians and wounded more than 90 others in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The victims included 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 Egypt’s mediation efforts, neither side appears ready to end the worst flare-up since August, now in its third day.
“We are at the peak of a campaign, both offensive and defensive,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a videotaped statement released during a visit to an air base.
“Anyone who comes to harm us – his blood will be lost.”
The deaths of Ali Ghali and Ahmed Abu Daqqa bring to five the number of senior figures from the PIJ who have been killed since Israel began attacking Gaza early Tuesday.
Egypt says it is trying to secure a truce but so far, its efforts have proved futile.
Cairo, which hosted senior PIJ official Mohammad al-Hindi for talks, was cautious about the prospects for a ceasefire.
“Egypt’s efforts to calm things down and resume the political process have not borne fruit yet,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told reporters.
Meeting with his Jordanian, French and German counterparts in Berlin, Shoukry urged “peace-promoting countries to intervene and stop the attacks” and said Israel must “stop unilateral measures aimed at destroying the future of the Palestinian state”.
Among the terms for a truce, the PIJ wants an end to Israel’s killing of its leaders.
“Islamic Jihad is demanding that if there is a ceasefire, Israel must commit not to kill any more of their leaders. This is something Israel has said it will not do. We saw five of their leaders in last two days Israel killed and they say they have the right to do that,” Al Jazeera reporter Mohammed Jamjoom said.
Israel appears to be hoping that the PIJ, depleted of rockets and commanders, will stop fighting unilaterally.
The initial Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday that triggered the exchange of fire killed three senior PIJ fighters and at least 10 civilians, most of them women and children.
More than 90 people were injured in the attacks that destroyed five buildings and destroyed more than 300 apartments, said Salama Marouf, chairman of the media office for the Hamas group that governs Gaza.
Israel has kept crossings for the movement of people and goods closed since Tuesday, blocking travel completely, even for urgent humanitarian needs, and preventing patients from accessing medical treatment. which does not apply to Gaza, human rights groups say.
Some of the “292 patients and companions were prevented from accessing medical treatment not available in Gaza, most of them cancer patients and others in need of life-saving treatment provided by Western hospitals Bank or Israel”, the Israeli rights group, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, said in a statement.
“Closing the Beit Hanoon Crossing puts more lives at risk by preventing the immediate evacuation, which may be necessary, of civilians injured during the attack.”
Gisha, along with the rights organizations Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights – Israel and Al Mezan, sent an urgent letter to several Israeli officials demanding that Israel stop all harm to civilians and provide then humanitarian access.
“The security challenges, including the risks that occur during active hostilities, do not exempt Israel from its humanitarian obligations to the residents of Gaza,” the organizations said, concluding that “its violation principles raise serious concerns over flagrant violations of the rules of war that may amount to war crimes.”