Israel launched its biggest air strikes on the Gaza Strip since the 2014 war, killing two Palestinians aged 15 and 16 on Saturday. At least 25 people were wounded in the attacks, AFP reported.

Meanwhile, three Israelis were injured when a rocket hit a house in the city of Sderot near the Gaza Strip.

Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesperson for the militant group Hamas, said the rocket attacks were retaliation for Israeli air strikes. “The protection and the defence of our people is a national duty and a strategic choice,” he added. But the spokesperson asserted that his organisation had agreed to an “Egyptian offer to return to a ceasefire to stop this escalation”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman accepted the terms of the ceasefire, Haaretz reported. But Netanyahu said that said Hamas had been hit with “the hardest blow” since the 2014 war “and we will increase the strength of our attacks as necessary”.