Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes overnight have been laid to rest in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas militants and the Israeli military continue to exchange fire.
Video footage showed a father carrying his daughter through the streets of Gaza on Thursday in a small and subdued funeral. The young girl was one of at least five children reported to have been killed during the night.
According to news agency AFP, a least 25 people died in the latest attacks by Israeli aircraft, mainly in the southern city of Khan Younis. Eight victims were from the same family.
With Israel's 'Operation Protective Edge' - launched to target Hamas leaders and concealed rocket firing locations - now in its third day, the death toll in Gaza stands at 76.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), meanwhile, reported continued rocket fire sent from Gaza. The army said the armed wing of Hamas has fired over 365 rockets into Israel in the last three days.
It claimed that within the last few hours a number of missiles had been intercepted over Tel Aviv, Netivot and the Shfela area. At least three rockets reportedly hit residential communities in the Negev.
There have been no Israeli deaths, but the barrages have seen Israelis running for shelter as sirens have sounded and paralysed business in southern communities.
In response to the escalating conflict, the United Nations Security Council is set to convene in New York later on Thursday.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is appealing for restraint | Image: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe
The Secretary-General of the UN has warned that the current situation in Gaza is "on a knife's edge" and is appealing for restraint.
Ban Ki-moon said the situation could spiral quickly beyond anyone's control, and urged the international community to work with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to avert further escalation "in a region that can ill-afford another full-blown war".
"I am alarmed by the new wave of violence that has engulfed Gaza, southern Israel and the West Bank – including Jerusalem. This is one of the most critical tests the region has faced in recent years" he said at UN Headquarters.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has flared in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank in late June and the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager from East Jerusalem last week.
Yesterday - with militants in the Gaza Strip stepping up rocket attacks against Israel, and Israeli airstrikes on the enclave intensifying - Mr. Ban reiterated his call on all those involved to exercise maximum restraint and avoid further civilian casualties and overall destabilization.
The UN chief told reporters that he had spent much of the day working the phones with regional and world leaders - including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Mr. Ban said the risk the violence could expand “is real.” As such, he again firmly condemned the multiple rocket attacks launched from Gaza on Israel, and declared that such attacks are “unacceptable” and must stop.
The exchange of fire marks the heaviest fighting between Israel and Hamas since an eight-day battle in November 2012.
The Israeli Cabinet has said it may also send in ground troops and has authorised the call-up of as many as 40,000 reservists.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of committing atrocities in Gaza.
"It's genocide - the killing of entire families is genocide by Israel against our Palestinian people" he said.
