Gaza death toll climbs as Israel escalates aerial bombardment

Israel masses troops near Gaza as mediation efforts fail to halt intensified violence between Israel and Hamas.

The death toll in Gaza has climbed as Israel pounded the enclave with more air strikes, while Hamas sent a heavy barrage of rockets deep into Israel, even as Egyptian negotiators held in-person mediation talks with the two sides. The four days of cross-border violence showed no sign of abating as Palestinians marked the first day of the Eid al-Fitr religious holiday on Thursday, and the violence has also spread to mixed communities of Jews and Arabs in Israel, a new front in the long conflict. Worried that the region’s worst hostilities in years could spiral out of control, the United States is sending an envoy, Hady Amr, to the region. Truce efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations have so far offered no sign of progress.