The latest attacks carried out by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip led to the killing of at least 20 Palestinians, including four children aged between 9 and 16.

At least six Palestinian militants were killed in the fire exchange and five Israeli troops suffered minor wounds after tanks entered three areas in northern Gaza.

The fresh wave of attacks followed Israel’s warning that it might launch a full-scale attack on Gaza as retaliation for the increasing number of rockets launched by the Palestinian militants.

Israel’s top officials are under pressure to launch a ground invasion, but a recent poll showed most Israelis would prefer a truce with the Islamist movement Hamas, which currently rules Gaza, BBC wrote on its Web site.

The death toll of the clashes, which intensified Wednesday, reached 47 people and at least 20 of them were civilians. One Israeli died in a rocket attack.

The number of civilian casualties is still staggering high and it’s hard to see the stories of each individual killed and not just the numbers. For example, as a house located east of the Jabaliya refugee camp was hit, two children died in the blast. A father and his 19-year-old son died as another rocket exploded near their home. Two sisters, aged 15 and 16, were killed in another strike.

Through its raids and air strikes, Israel is attempting to stop the Palestinian militants from firing more rockets into their country, but even more rockets were launched during the past couple of hours. Three of them hit the coastal city of Ashkelon and injured several people.

The leaders of the Palestinian militants say they are responding to Israel’s raids and air strikes, while Israel attempts to do the same thing. As violence escalated over the past couple of days, Israel began considering the option of a full-scale invasion of Gaza.