FARES AKRAM and JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli aircraft struck Islamic Jihad targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Wednesday while the militant group rained scores of rockets into Israel for a second straight day as the heaviest round of fighting in months showed no signs of ending. The death toll rose to 26 Palestinians, including a 7-year-old boy and two other minors.
The U.N.’s Mideast envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, rushed to Cairo to work with Egyptian mediators on arranging a truce. An Islamic Jihad delegation was also expected in Egypt “very soon,” and Egyptian intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
“I am very concerned about the ongoing and serious escalation be
