Gaza Conflict: 'Eight Dead' In Latest Raids

Eight Palestinians have died in fresh Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip and three rockets apparently aimed at Jerusalem have fallen short, according to reports.

Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al Qudra told AFP the eight were killed in Gaza City, central El-Bureij and northern Jabaliya and included a woman and a teenager.

Medics say the death toll from five days of airstrikes stands at 135, although there are varying casualty figures.

Two of the rockets hit the southern West Bank city of Hebron, with the other striking near Bethlehem, according to AFP.

There are no reports of any casualties.

Gaza militants have fired several rockets at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv since Monday, most of which have been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

Israel began the offensive on Tuesday in response to weeks of rocket attacks from Palestinian militants, who are understood to have fired some 600 missiles into the country.

Israel, which says it has struck more than 1,000 targets, has begun massing troops on the border with Gaza, ahead of a possible ground offensive.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for a de-escalation of the conflict and a restoration of the 2012 ceasefire.

His comments were made after 15 people, including two disabled girls, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian territory early on Saturday.

Mr Hague said he had spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, expressing his "deepest concern about the number of civilian casualties".

He said: "It is clear that we need urgent, concerted international action to secure a ceasefire, as was the case in 2012."

The United Nations Security Council has also called for a ceasefire and expressed serious concern about the welfare and protection of civilians on both sides.

The chief diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the US are set to discuss how to achieve a truce on the sidelines of talks in Vienna on Sunday about Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Abbas also called for a ceasefire, but added that the region needed to return to Israel's 1967 borders.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al Sisi warned that the conflict would cost more "innocent lives", as he revealed that his government was in touch with both sides.

Gaza's health ministry said the two girls were killed in a raid that hit a disabled charity in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking why the centre was hit by an Israeli tank shell, which injured four others, including two children.

Hamas also said Israel struck at two mosques on Saturday.

The group described the bombing as "barbaric", adding that Israel's "terrorism" gave them "the right to broaden our response to deter this occupier".

But the Israeli military has said rockets have been concealed next to religious sites and civilian homes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not end the campaign until he achieved his goal of stopping the rocket attacks.

"No international pressure will prevent us from striking, with all force, against the terrorist organisation which calls for our destruction," he said.