At least 15 Palestinians have been killed and 125 injured as Israeli warplanes are continuing to strike military targets throughout the Gaza Strip for the second day on Saturday.

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

Israel 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.

The Israeli airstrikes, dubbed "Operation Breaking Dawn," targeted "10 terrorist operatives" of the PIJ in Gaza to "eliminate the threat to the citizens of Israel," according to the Israeli military.

Dozens of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Friday evening by the PIJ, all of which were either intercepted or fell in open areas, causing no injuries, the Israeli military said.

According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the group launched some 80 rockets in southern Israel. Nearly half of them fell short in Gaza, and 46 crossed the border, of which 33 were intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system, and the rest fell in open areas, causing no injuries.

Egypt's official Ahram news site reported that Egyptian officials were mediating between Israel and Palestinian groups in Gaza in an effort to end the fighting and restore the 2021 ceasefire agreement.

"Egypt is conducting intensive communications with the Palestinian and the Israeli sides to end the ongoing escalation in Gaza," the report said, citing an Egyptian official.

Israel's army is preparing for its aerial operation in Gaza to last a week, saying Saturday that there are currently no discussions on a ceasefire with Islamic Jihad militants.

The military "is preparing for the operation to last week" and is "not currently holding ceasefire negotiations," an army spokesperson told AFP, confirming reports in Israeli media.  

(With input from AFP, Xinhua)

(Cover: Smoke rises during an Israeli air strike, amid Israel-Gaza fighting, in Gaza City, August 6, 2022. /Reuters)