Israel's acting Prime Minister Jair Lapid has hailed the killing of two senior commanders of the Palestine Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ) as an "extraordinary success".

Taisir al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour were killed by rocket hits during the Israeli army's military operation in the coastal strip, which began on Friday.

They were the commanders of the Islamist organization's northern and southern Gaza divisions.

Christian Meier

Political correspondent for the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

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The army announced that the deaths of al-Jabari and Mansour had "significantly affected" the PIJ's tactical and strategic capabilities.

In addition, numerous military facilities were hit.

Israel began attacking PIJ positions on Friday, saying it was planning to forestall imminent attacks by the organization.

Lapid said Israel is acting in a precise and responsible manner to minimize harm to civilians.

The army denied responsibility for the deaths of several civilians in the Jabaliya refugee camp on Saturday evening.

Rather, a misguided missile from the PIJ struck there.

Health authorities in the largely sealed off Gaza Strip reported 31 deaths by Sunday afternoon, including several children.

There are also more than 250 wounded.

In Israel, several people suffered minor injuries, mostly while seeking shelter from possible rocket attacks.

According to the army, the PIJ had fired more than 580 rockets into Israel by Sunday morning.

Most of these hit uninhabited areas or were intercepted.

Hamas had not participated in the conflict as of Sunday afternoon.

While Israel's political leadership announced that the military operation would last as long as necessary, intensive negotiations on a ceasefire were held on Sunday afternoon.

According to agency reports, Israel had agreed to a ceasefire from Sunday evening to a proposal by Egypt, which mediates between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

The conflict came to a head after Israel arrested a senior PIJ leader in the West Bank earlier last week.

The organization threatened retaliatory attacks, and Israel largely shut down public life in the areas bordering the Gaza Strip for days.