THE most violent attacks in months from the occupying Israeli forces continued for a third straight day today, as Israeli warplanes struck targets in the Gaza Strip.

The attacks drew missile retaliation shots from Palestinian resistance fighters at targets in Jerusalem and southern Israel.

There were no immediate reports of casualties on either side today, as foreign mediators pressed ahead with efforts to reach a cease-fire. 

The past few days of fighting have killed 31 Palestinians in Gaza and one Israeli.

A burst of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip prompted warning sirens near the contested capital of Jerusalem, breaking a 12-hour lull that had raised hopes that Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations could soon be able to broker a ceasefire. 

An umbrella group of Gaza-based Palestinian organisations known as the Joint Operations Room said they had launched rockets “in response to the assassinations and continued aggression towards the Palestinian people.”

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was conducting a security assessment. The Israeli military said its warplanes were striking Islamic Jihad targets in response to the rockets.

The cross-border exchanges this week have pitted Israel against Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza after the territory’s Hamas rulers. 

Since Tuesday, Israel says its strikes have killed five senior Islamic Jihad figures. 

Islamic Jihad has retaliated with over 800 rockets fired towards Israel. In that time, Israel’s military said it has used air strikes to hit at least 215 targets in Gaza, including rocket and mortar launch sites and militants preparing to use them.

Israeli bombs and shells have destroyed 47 housing units, and damaged 19 so badly they were uninhabitable, leaving 165 Palestinians homeless, Gaza’s housing ministry reported. 

Around 300 Palestinian homes were also damaged by the onslaught.

At least 31 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in the fighting, including seven children and four women, according to the UN humanitarian office. 

Over 90 Palestinians have been wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

The civilian deaths have drawn condemnation from the Arab world and concern from the United States and Europe. 

Islamic Jihad political bureau member Mohamad al-Hindi was optimistic about the prospects of a ceasefire, saying he hoped both sides “would reach an agreement and honour it today.”

Israel has been carrying out near nightly arrest raids in the occupied West Bank that have killed 109 Palestinians so far this year, with 20 Israelis killed during the same period.