Deadly escalation sees fresh rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli retaliation

Gaza militants fired fresh rocket barrages at Israel early on Sunday in a deadly escalation that has seen Israel respond with waves of strikes as a fragile truce again faltered and further escalation was feared, Agence France-Presse reported.

Gazan authorities reported six Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the escalation that began on Saturday, The Associated Press reported, but Israel disputed AP's account of the deaths of a pregnant mother and her baby.

One 58-year-old Israeli man was killed by a rocket strike on the city of Ashkelon near the Gaza border, Israeli police and the hospital said.