A fresh Israeli air raid on Gaza killed a Palestinian schoolboy on Sunday, March 11 raising the death toll to 17 in less than 48 hours and clouding hopes of restoring a tacit truce, AFP reported.

The spike in violence erupted on Friday afternoon when an Israeli strike killed the leader of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), sparking a bloody cross-border exchange in which 15 Gazans were killed and more than 100 rockets fired at Israel, in the most deadly 24-hour period in more than three years.

Since then, two more people have been killed, raising the toll to 17, including 15 militants and two civilians, medics said. Another 30 people were wounded, six of whom were in critical condition.

The European Union and United States urged both sides to restore calm but Palestinian militants vowed to avenge their dead and Israel threatened to hit back if its citizens came under renewed rocket attacks.