On Thursday, Israel will resume its airstrikes against the blockaded Gaza Strip, which began on Tuesday morning.

So far, 27 people have been killed in the attack, including leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group and several civilians, wrote al-Jazeera.

According to the Palestinian authorities, at least five children were killed in the attack. And more than 70 Palestinians were injured.

At the same time, Islamic Jihad denies having agreed to a ceasefire with Israel, which Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, said on Wednesday it had agreed with Israel.

On Wednesday evening, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that they had not finished striking targets in the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Israel continues to close its border crossing into the Gaza Strip – resulting in patients requiring life-saving medical treatment not receiving it, according to al-Jazeera.

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), since the mutual strikes began, nearly 550 rockets and grenades have been sent from the Gaza Strip towards Israel – more than 120 of which should not have reached the border, writes the Times of Israel.

Israel’s air defenses have intercepted most of those that have crossed the border, and few have hit urban areas.

So far no one has been reported dead on the Israeli side, but one person in the border town of Ashkelon was said to have been injured by shrapnel on Wednesday.

Efforts were being made on several sides to reach a truce between all parties, but by Thursday afternoon no truce was in sight.

Since 2006, a year after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip it has occupied since 1967, Israel has imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory – meaning that the Gaza Strip has been largely isolated from the outside world and the occupied Palestinian territories.