JERUSALEM, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Israel said Wednesday it was working with Egyptian officials to de-escalate a spate of violence between Israel and Gaza's Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
The escalation of violence erupted Tuesday after Israel killed a senior commander of the group.
The Israeli military said that it has begun working with Egyptian brokers to achieve calm since Tuesday, but did not elaborate on the talks.
Meanwhile, Israeli military's spokesman Hedi Zilberman said the army was preparing for a second day of fighting with Islamic Jihad.
Israel has boosted its anti-rocket Iron Dome batteries and deployed more troops near the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
"We took down a major cog (of Islamic Jihad) and I assume we will see Islamic Jihad intensifying the fire today," he said in a brief to reporters, referring to Tuesday's killing of Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior commander with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in Gaza.
Two Israeli strikes killed al-Atta and his wife before dawn in their home in Gaza city, triggering Islamic Jihad and Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs Gaza, to vow to avenge the killing.
According to Zilberman, the army has carried out multiple strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight, targeting Islamic Jihad infrastructures and launchers of rockets.
He said that so far Hamas has not taken part in the fire.
He added that the Israeli strikes will continue to focus on sites belonging to the group and avoid Hamas sites and densely populated areas in order not to prompt Hamas into the fighting.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, at least 12 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and 50 more were injured since Tuesday.
At least 250 rockets were fired into Israel, reaching deep into central part, but causing no fatalities.
Two persons were injured by shrapnel and 23 were injured while running to take shelter, according to figures provided by the Israeli MDA medical emergency service.
About 60 percent of the rockets fell in open and unpopulated areas, and 90 percent of the other rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome system, the military said.
