Air strikes, rocket attacks push Israel, Gaza into second day of fighting - Reuters.com

GAZA/JERUSALEM, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza while the militant Islamic Jihad group fired hundreds of rockets into Israel on Saturday as a cross-border clash continued into a second day, killing at least six people, including four children.

The Israeli military denied it was responsible, saying the explosion was caused by a failed Islamic Jihad rocket launch.

While the Israeli strikes went on, hitting what the military said were weapons depots hidden in residential areas and destroying a number of houses, Islamic Jihad fired rocket salvoes as far as Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv.

Palestinian militants fired more than 400 rockets at Israel - most of them intercepted, setting off air raid sirens and sending people running to bomb shelters.

An Egyptian intelligence delegation headed by Major General Ahmed Abdelkhaliq arrived in Israel on Saturday and would be travelling to Gaza for mediation talks, two Egyptian security sources said.

The cross-border clash, which shattered more than a year of relative calm around Gaza, began when Israel launched a surprise attack on Friday, killing a senior Islamic Jihad commander and hitting a series of what it said were military targets.

At the site where top Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer al-Jaabari was killed, rubble, glass and furniture were strewn along the street.

Islamic Jihad said it had fired a missile at Israel's main international gateway, Ben Gurion Airport, but the rocket fell short around 20 km (12 miles) away.

Tensions rose this week after Israeli forces arrested an Islamic Jihad commander in the occupied West Bank, drawing threats of retaliation from the group.

The military said it had apprehended 19 more members of the group there on Saturday.