The violence was triggered by an Israeli air raid on Tuesday when a senior Islamic Jihad leader, Baha Abu al-Ata, was killed. The Israeli attacks, according to the military, target Islamic Jihad targets.
According to Palestinian authorities, at least three of the victims are children, the BBC writes.
From Gaza, on Wednesday night, 360 rockets had been fired since al-Ata was killed, according to the Israeli military.
UN envoy: escalation "very dangerous"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone out and warned Islamic Jihad to continue the rocket fire.
- They have a choice: to stop the attacks or receive more and more bangs. Their choice, he said at the beginning of a government meeting.
UN Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov is scheduled to land in Cairo on Wednesday. The UN and Egypt have previously mediated between Israel and militant groups on the Gaza Strip. Mladenov has now warned that escalation in the conflict is "very dangerous".
"There is nothing that justifies any attacks on civilians," he says according to the BBC.