Gaza City

Israel and Gaza traded heavy fire on Friday but Egyptian mediators launched a new bid to end days of fighting that has killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian.

The violence has been met with international calls for de-escalation, with the European Union pushing for an "immediate comprehensive ceasefire".

The Israeli army said it killed three leaders of the Islamic Jihad militant group Tuesday in air strikes on Gaza, which left a dozen dead according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory.

The ministry said that women and children were among the dead, publishing a list of names without ages or detailing any affiliations.

Israel hit Gaza with air strikes on Aug. 6 and a Palestinian militant group retaliated with a barrage of rocket fire, in the territory's worst escalation of violence since a war last year.

Israel has said it was forced to launch a "pre-emptive" operation against Islamic Jihad, insisting the group was planning an imminent attack following days of tensions along the Gaza border.

As a reminder, the Israeli army attacked targets in Gaza today, it was announced in a statement that was reported by the media today, according to CNN.
The statement said the targets included members of Islamic Jihad, the smaller of the two main militant groups in Gaza.

While workers labored on a large construction site in the Gaza Strip, a security guard noticed a strange piece of stone sticking out of the earth.

"I thought it was a tunnel," said Ahmad, the young guard, referring to secret passages dug by the Islamist group Hamas to help it battle Israel.

Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip are rediscovering the pleasures of the Mediterranean Sea, after authorities declared the end of a long period of hazardous marine pollution.

A Palestinian farmer found a rare 4,500-year-old stone sculpture while working his land in the southern Gaza Strip, ruling Hamas authorities announced on April 25.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the 22-centimeter tall limestone head is believed to represent the Canaanite goddess Anat and is estimated to be dated to around 2,500 B.C.

Gaza is rich with antiquities having been an important trading spot for many civilisations

After years of behind-the-scenes activity in the Gaza Strip, Egypt is going public.

Since mediating a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group, Egypt has sent crews to clear rubble and is promising to build vast new apartment complexes. Egyptian flags and billboards praising President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi have sprung up across the Palestinian territory.

Bulldozers digging for an Egyptian-funded housing project in the Gaza Strip unearthed the ruins of a tomb dating back to the Roman era, Hamas authorities said on Jan. 31.