Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem on Sunday, causing no casualties but signalling new reach and resolve as Israel pressed air strikes in the Gaza Strip for a third day and admitted Jewish visitors to a contested mosque compound.

Overnight, Khaled Mansour, a senior commander of the militant Islamic Jihad group, was killed in southern Gaza along with two associates and five other civilians, according to the group. Islamic Jihad said it would "not let their blood dry before they bombard the settlements of the enemy".

About 30 Palestinians, at least a third of them civilians and two of them senior Islamic Jihad commanders, have been killed in a surge of fighting in Gaza over the weekend, while rocket salvoes have sent tens of thousands Israelis to shelters.