Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Kandil will visit the Gaza Strip on Friday to discuss ways to calm the situation down, said his spokesman, Alaa al-Hadidi, on Thursday.

In a statement on the PM's Facebook page, Hadidi said that President Mohamed Mursi assigned Kandil to visit Gaza to declare Egypt's solidarity with the people of Palestine, offer condolences for those who fell victims to the Israeli assault and discuss ways to end the flare-up of military operations between Palestinians and Israelis in Gaza.

Egypt informed Gaza of its intention to send the prime minister to the Strip on Friday along with a number of ministers, Ghazy Hamad, Hamas spokesman, said.

Head of Egyptian Intelligence Mohamed Rafaat Shehata will be part of the delegation to Gaza, a security source told Reuters.

The delegation will also include the minister of health in addition to some of the president's aides, presidential spokesman Yasser Ali stated.

Hamad told an Egyptian satellite channel that his government welcomes the "historic" visit, adding that Palestinians have long waited for such step.

A rocket Hamas launched earlier today killed three Israelis north of Gaza while the death toll of Palestinians has reached 15.