More people are dying as the cross border violence between Israel and Gaza intensifies by the day. Four people are now reported to have been killed in two airstrikes, which Israel carried out on the country in as many days. The military were responding to sustained rocket fire and mortar bombs on towns in the south, and they claim they've killed at least one Hamas gunman in the latest strike. Early this morning, Gaza retaliated yet again with more rocket fire.

At a morgue in Gaza, this is reality of life for the workers there as they deal with the casualties of recent days. The death toll may well rise as the numbers of injured grows, many of them seriously hurt by shrapnel from the rockets. Ever since an Israeli officer was wounded in a bomb blast yesterday, violence has stepped up. Much of the fighting has been between Israel and smaller militant groups. But the military wing of Gaza's Hamas rulers and a smaller militant group claimed credit for today's rocket and mortar fire.

In Israel, the clean-up operation begins on a chicken coop that was blasted in the community of Kissufim and a house that was hit in nearby Reim. According to a council official, two other houses were hit with three people wounded, two of them seriously.

The barrage from Gaza came just hours after Qatar's ruler effectively endorsed Hamas (who Britain and America regard as a terrorist organisation) by becoming the first head of state to visit the Palestinian territory yesterday. Crossings between Gaza and Israel were shut down following the exchanges of fire in the area.

Written and presented by Marverine Cole.