- NEW: Sixteen Palestinians killed Sunday, Ministry of Health says
- NEW: Some 117 rockets were fired at Israel on Sunday, Israel says
- Israel targets Hamas financial leader, military says
- Egypt destroys five tunnels under border with Gaza
(CNN) -- The recently renewed violence in the Mideast claimed more lives Sunday as Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people in Gaza and a Hamas attack on a border crossing wounded four Israeli civilians.
The 16 Palestinian victims included a mother and her three children in their home, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra.
One of the targets was Mohamed Al-Oul, who supervised Hamas' financial transactions, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF said a "hit was confirmed."
The four Israelis were hit at the border crossing near the town of Erez. THe IDF tweeted that several rockets and mortars struck the checkpoint. One civilian was moderately wounded and three were injured, the IDF said, without elaborating on their conditions.
The civilians had come to the crossing to aid people needing humanitarian assistance, Israel's Ministry of Defense said in a written statement. The crossing remains closed.
Hamas said it fired 23 mortar shells at the site. At least 117 rockets were fired at Israel on Sunday, the IDF said via its Twitter account.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated before his weekly Cabinet meeting that airstrikes will continue and that Israel targets militants.
Palestinians run away from debris after a bomb from an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Gaza on Saturday, August 23. Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed this week after the collapse of a ceasefire and talks aimed at ending the bloodshed. An Israeli soldier smokes a cigarette in a large concrete pipe used as shelter at an army deployment point near the Israeli-Gaza border on Wednesday, August 20. Light trails made by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip stand out against the night sky on Tuesday, August 19. Despite efforts to come to a peaceful agreement, Gaza militants launched rockets into Israel on Tuesday, and Israel responded with its own rockets. An injured Palestinian man is helped into the Shifa hospital in Gaza City on August 19. Police examine the remains of a rocket launched from Gaza that landed near the kibbutz of Yad Mordechay on August 19. Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on August 19. Islam El Masri begins to sort through the rubble of her destroyed home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on Thursday, August 14. Israelis gather in Tel Aviv during a protest August 14 calling on the government and the army to end Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza once and for all. Smoke rises in Gaza City after an airstrike on Saturday, August 9. Israeli soldiers walk past a Merkava tank as they patrol a field near Israel's border with Gaza on August 9. A Palestinian boy salvages family belongings from the rubble of a four-story building after an airstrike in Gaza City on Friday, August 8. Israelis flee after a rocket fired from Gaza hit the residential neighborhood of Sderot, Israel, on August 8. A Palestinian man looks out over destruction in the al-Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City on Wednesday, August 6. Displaced Palestinians carry their belongings as they leave a United Nations school in Beit Lahiya, Gaza, to return to their homes Tuesday, August 5. The body of Avrohom Wallis is carried during his funeral in Jerusalem on Monday, August 4. Wallis was killed in what Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld called a "terror attack," when a man drove an earthmover into a bus in Jerusalem. Israeli soldiers fire a mortar shell toward Gaza from the Israeli side of the border on August 4. Palestinians remove rubble from a house hit by an airstrike in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on August 4. An Israeli drone circles over Gaza City on Sunday, August 3. A Palestinian man sits in a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, on August 3. An honor guard caries the coffin of Israeli Lt. Hadar Goldin during his funeral in Kfar-saba, Israel, on August 3. Goldin was thought to have been captured during fighting in Gaza but was later declared killed in action by the Israel Defense Forces. A Palestinian boy looks for belongings after an airstrike in Rafah on Saturday, August 2. Israeli soldiers walk to their tank at a staging area near the border with Gaza on August 2. A young Palestinian carries damaged copies of the Quran from the rubble of the Imam Al Shafaey mosque in Gaza City on August 2. Palestinians displaced from their houses return to check their homes in Gaza City on Friday, August 1. An Israeli soldier carries a shell as he prepares a tank along the Israel-Gaza border on Thursday, July 31. Israel called up 16,000 additional reservists, bolstering forces for its fight against Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. Smoke rises from a building after an airstrike in Rafah on July 31. The parents and a sister of Israeli soldier Guy Algranati mourn during his funeral in Tel Aviv on July 31. U.N. workers remove a donkey injured at a U.N.-run school in Gaza on Wednesday, July 30. Palestinians walk under the collapsed minaret of a destroyed mosque in Gaza City on July 30. Palestinians gather leaflets that fell from an Israeli plane on July 30. The leaflets warned residents of airstrikes in Gaza City. Israelis take cover from a Palestinian rocket attack from Gaza during the funeral of Israeli soldier Meidan Maymon Biton, which was held at a cemetery in Netivot, Israel, on Tuesday, July 29. Smoke and fire rise above Gaza City after an Israeli airstrike on July 29. An Israeli soldier prays on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza on July 29 as smoke billows from the only power plant supplying electricity to Gaza. Near the rubble of their home in Rafah, Palestinian men mourn July 29 for people killed during an airstrike. A Palestinian man places a portrait of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya on the rubble of Haniya's Gaza City home July 29 after it was hit by an overnight airstrike. Flares from Israeli forces light up the night sky of Gaza City on July 29. Israeli soldiers carry the coffin of 2nd Lt. Roy Peles, an infantry officer who was killed in combat, during his funeral in Tel Aviv on Sunday, July 27. During a 12-hour cease-fire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighborhood on Saturday, July 26, a Palestinian man sits atop a car filled with belongings that were salvaged from a destroyed home. Israeli soldiers watch a bomb explode along the border with Gaza before the 12-hour cease-fire on July 26. As her brother-in-law Mazen Keferna weeps on the ground, Manal Keferna cries upon discovering her family home destroyed by airstrikes in Beit Hanoun on July 26. Palestinians dig a body out of the rubble of a destroyed house in Gaza during the cease-fire on July 26. An Israeli soldier mourns at the grave of reserve Master Sgt. Yair Ashkenazy during his funeral at the military cemetery in Rehovot, Israel, on Friday, July 25. Ashkenazy was killed during operations in northern Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces reported. A Palestinian man cries after bringing a child to the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya on Thursday, July 24. The child was wounded in a strike on a school that was serving as a shelter for families in Gaza. It's unclear who was behind the strike. The Israeli military said it was "reviewing" the incident, telling CNN that a rocket fired from Gaza could have been responsible. Israeli soldiers carry a wounded soldier to a helicopter near the Israel-Gaza border on July 24. Israeli soldiers patrol the Israel-Gaza border on July 24. A trail of blood is seen in the courtyard of the school that was hit July 24 in the Beit Hanoun district of Gaza. An Israeli tank fires toward Gaza from a position near Israel's border on July 24. A photograph tweeted by astronaut Alexander Gerst on Wednesday, July 23, shows major cities of Israel and Gaza. Gerst said in his tweet: "My saddest photo yet. From #ISS we can actually see explosions and rockets flying over #Gaza & #Israel." A woman in Philadelphia passes by a departure board that shows US Airways Flight 796, scheduled to fly to Tel Aviv, has been canceled on Tuesday, July 22. The Federal Aviation Administration told U.S. airlines they were temporarily prohibited from flying to the Tel Aviv airport after a Hamas rocket exploded nearby. Smoke and fire from the explosion of an Israeli strike rise over Gaza City on July 22. A relative of Israeli soldier Jordan Ben-Simon mourns over his coffin during his funeral in Ashkelon, Israel, on July 22. Palestinians inspect destroyed buildings and collect usable items after an Israeli air assault on July 22. Israeli soldiers weep at the grave of Israeli Sgt. Adar Barsano during his funeral Sunday, July 20, in Nahariya, Israel. Palestinian medics carry a body in Gaza's Shaja'ia district on July 20. Israeli soldiers give medical care to soldiers who were wounded during an offensive in Gaza on July 20. A Palestinian boy injured during an Israeli airstrike is taken to the hospital by his father in Gaza City on July 20. Palestinians flee their homes as Israeli troops focus their firepower on the Gaza town of Shaja'ia on Sunday, July 20. The shelling and bombing killed at least 60 people and wounded 300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Smoke rises after an Israeli missile hit Shaja'ia on July 20. A Palestinian child walks on debris from a destroyed house following an overnight Israeli strike in Beit Lahiya on Saturday, July 19. An explosion rocks a street in Gaza City on Friday, July 18. Israeli ground forces move to the Gaza border on July 18. Israeli soldiers patrol near the Israel-Gaza border on July 18. A relative mourns July 18 during the funeral of Rani Abu Tawila, a Palestinian who was killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City. A Palestinian demonstrator, protesting Israel's military operation in Gaza, runs through smoke July 18 during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the entrance of the Ofer prison in the West Bank village of Betunia. This image, made from video shot through a night-vision scope, was released by the Israeli military on July 18. It shows troops moving through a wall opening during the early hours of the ground offensive in Gaza. Children stare as Palestinians flee Khan Yunis, Gaza, to safe areas July 18. An Israeli tank fires a shell into Gaza on July 18. A Palestinian carries a gas cylinder salvaged from the rubble of an apartment building after it was hit by Israeli fire on July 18. An Israeli reservist prays July 18 near the Gaza border by Sderot, Israel. Flare smoke rises into the Gaza City sky on Thursday, July 17. Photos: Israel-Gaza crisis Hamas executes 18 suspected informants School attack leaves Gazan kids wounded Gaza militant leader targeted "The Hamas is paying and will pay a heavy price for the crimes it is carrying out. I call on the citizens of Gaza to leave every place that the Hamas is carrying out terror activity. Every place like this is a target for us. ... This is true on all fronts and for all countries," he said.
He compared Hamas to ISIS, the militant group that now calls itself the Islamic State.
"Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas. They simply work in the same way. They are branches of the same poisonous tree," Netanyahu said.
Israel, the European Union and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
Al-Qidra told CNN that 92 people in Gaza have been killed since a ceasefire ended five days ago and more than 2,100 have died in this weekslong conflict.
There were other effects of the violence, which began in early July. The United Nations, which runs many schools in Gaza, said 500,000 children were unable to begin classes on Sunday. A spokesman for the Palestinian ministry of education said more than 100 government-run schools are closed while others are being used as shelters.
Fire from Syria
Also Sunday, the Israeli military said rockets from Syria hit various locations through the Golan Heights.
It was unclear who was responsible for the rockets from Syria or whether they had anything to do with Israel's ongoing fight with Hamas that has raged for weeks. The Golan Heights is under Israeli government control but is considered to be occupied territory by the international community.
The announcement came hours after a rocket from Lebanon struck an open area in northern Israel in a separate attack. No injuries were immediately reported in either of those attacks.
Last month, a rocket was fired into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, and the Israeli military responded with an artillery strike. At the time, Israel said it held the Lebanese government responsible for the attack.
Israel has waged an offensive in Gaza against the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the stream of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza. Hopes for a ceasefire appear dim despite calls from world leaders for the two sides to stop the violence.
During the offensive, Israel destroyed more than 30 concrete-lined tunnels that led from Gaza into Israel.
Sources, including one who witnessed an explosion, told CNN that the Egyptian army Sunday blew up five tunnels on the border with Gaza.
Hamas request
Hamas is urging Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to go before the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli leaders for war crimes.
The Palestinians are not currently under the jurisdiction of the ICC, but would be if they sign the court's Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court.
Back in May, a group of 17 human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, signed a letter to Abbas encouraging him to join the ICC.
The United States and Israel and some other nations have pressured Abbas not to take this step, arguing that it would harm peace talks.
Hamas' announcement comes a day after one of the group's leaders admitted that its militants were responsible for the abduction of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June.
Hamas Political Bureau member Saleh Aruri added that the kidnappers did not tell their leaders about the action. The kidnappings were not approved by Hamas leadership or its military wing, he said, stressing that this acknowledgment does not equate to a claim of responsibility.
The three teens were later found dead, sparking the violence that has raged since then.
CNN's Ian Lee in Gaza and Michael Schwartz in Jerusalem, and Katia Hetter in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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