Gaza ceasefire largely holding after day-long flareup

A ceasefire between Israel andGaza militant groups appeared to be holding on Sunday, endingthe most intensive flare-up in violence around the Palestinianenclave since a 2014 war.

In a day of fierce fighting on Saturday, Israel carried outdozens of air strikes in Gaza, killing two people, and Gazamilitants fired more than 100 rockets across the border,wounding three people in a southern Israeli town.

The ceasefire, the second between the two sides to bebrokered by Egypt this year after a previous day-long flare-upin May, came into force late on Saturday.

The Israeli military said that in the initial hours of theceasefire militants fired two rockets towardIsrael, of whichone was intercepted by its Iron Dome system. There were noreports of an Israeli counter-attack in Gaza.

Some hours afterwards, militants fired another two mortarbombs towardIsrael, which responded by striking the mortartube used in the attack, the military said.

Weekly clashes at the Israel-Gaza border have kept tensionsat a high for months. More than 130 Palestinians have beenkilled by Israeli forces during protests at the frontier heldevery week since March, including a teenager on Friday, Gazamedics said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday'sattacks targeted Gaza's dominant Hamas Islamists, whom Israelaccuses of stoking violence with the "Great March of Return"demonstrations, which have included attempts to breach Israel'sborder fence.

Netanyahu has faced public pressure to take action againstthe launching of incendiary kites and balloons from Gaza thathave burned crops and scrubland in southern Israel.

Israel's Intelligence Minister Israel Katz said the airstrikes were meant to put an end to such attacks but should notbe seen as the start of a military campaign against thePalestinian territory of 2 million, devastated by seven weeks ofwar with Israel four years ago.

Thousands were expected to attend the funerals on Sunday oftwo Palestinian teens killed in one of the Israeli attacks.

A father and son were killed in an explosion in a buildingin Gaza on Sunday. But no blame was cast on Israel and policesaid they had launched an investigation into the cause of theblast.