Israel targets buildings as Gaza rocket salvos continue

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes flattened homes Saturday in Gaza, and Palestinian rocket barrages into southern Israel persisted for a second day, raising fears of another escalation in the Mideast conflict.

The fighting began with Israel’s killing of a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in a wave of strikes Friday that Israel said were meant to prevent an imminent attack.

The Israeli military said an errant rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed civilians late Saturday, including children, in the town of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza.

A Palestinian medical worker, who was not authorized to brief media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the blast killed at least six people, including three children.

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli warplanes struck four residential buildings in Gaza City, all locations possibly linked to Islamic Jihad. There were no reports of casualties. In each case, the Israeli military warned residents ahead of the strikes.

Throughout the day, Gaza militants regularly launched rounds of rockets into Israel. The Israeli military said Saturday evening that nearly 450 rockets had been fired, but almost all were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.