According to the Hamas Egypt working around the clock to halt the current round of violence

In a meeting with members of the General Staff, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that the army has stepped up its strikes against targets in Gaza as rocket fire on Israel's southern sector continues.

Army intelligence says that the current round of violence will continue over the next few days.

Due to the continued rocket fire, schools in most of the south will remain closed on Monday.

General Gantz has ordered the Southern Command to use intelligence obtained by the army and the security service. He said the information justifies the continued strikes on terrorists in  Gaza.

During the meeting, senior IDF officers said that the Islamic Jihad, which has fired dozens of rockets toward Israel since t Friday, had not made and real achievements and so stepped up its rocket fire on Sunday.

In response, the IDF has increased the number of strikes on rocket launchers and launching pads in Gaza. Gantz accused Hamas of not working to stop the rocket attacks on Israel.

IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said Islamic Jihad was "continuing to operate as the long arm of Iran, which bolsters it by sending weapons and money directly from Tehran."

Also on Sunday, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak met with General Gantz and other senior intelligence officials. "The IDF will hit hard those who try to harm Israeli civilians," he said.

According to the army, the Iron Dome system has intercepted 40 rockets.

The Palestinian Ma'an news agency quoted Hamas PM in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, as saying that armed Palestinian "factions" along the coastal strip have responded positively to his talks with Egypt, which he claims are aimed at halting the violence.  Egypt is "non stop" to stop the violence, he said.

However, according to the Islamic Jihad it is not involved in the truce discussions. "As far as we are concerned, here are no talks," said the terror group's spokesman, Daud Shihab.

"Should the Israeli aggression continue and there will be more victims – there will be no room for talks on a ceasefire."

Security officials said the army was preparing for the possibility that Palestinian terrorists will try to fire rockets toward Israeli communities located more than 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from the Gaza border.  If this does happen, the chances for a further escalation will be greatly increased.  Should the terrorists succeed in penetrating deeper into Israel, the chances for damage and injury become greater as population densities increase.

Since Friday, the IDF has carried out 24 strikes in Gaza, including 16 against terror cells who were attempting to launch rockets at Israel and eight on warehouses where weapons and ammunition were being stored and manufactured.