 Israel has intensified its air strikes on Gaza as rocket barrages hit Israeli towns for a second day in a deepening conflict in which at least 28 people in the Palestinian enclave and two in Israel have been killed. This boy has just lost his cousin. This girl, her brother, Hussain Hamad, 11 years old, was killed in an Israeli air strike. This is one of the many families in mourning on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip and Hamad's is one of the many funeral processions snaking through the streets. Militants in Gaza launched rocket barrages into Israel for a second day on Tuesday and the Israeli military pounded Gaza with air strikes. Gaza's health ministry says at least 26 people, including nine children, have been killed. Over 120 are wounded. Israel disputes the account saying it had killed at least 15 Hamas fighters and that a third of the more than 250 rockets launched by militants had fallen short, causing Palestinian civilian casualties. Israel saw its first fatalities after two women in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon died. This multi-story building in Gaza City was hit by an Israeli missile. Three Islamic Jihad members died here, according to the militant group. But women and children were also caught up in the violence. This is the most serious outbreak of fighting between the Israelis and Palestinians since 2019. It began with confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Monday. But tensions have been on the rise for weeks over possible evictions of Palestinians from homes in East Jerusalem, claimed by Jewish settlers. Behind the scenes of Palestinian official says Egypt, Qatar and the UN are trying to stem the escalating violence, amid international concern that events could spiral out of control.