GAZA FIRESTORM
Israel hits back at Hamas after ‘largest ever’ barrage of 300 rockets fired from Gaza
It comes a day after a Hamas commander was assassinated during an Israeli Special Forces undercover operation
ISRAEL has hit back at Hamas amid reports of the largest ever barrage of rockets ever fired from Gaza.
Palestinian militants bombarded Israel with 400 rockets and mortar shells, while Israeli warplanes struck targets in what appeared to be the most intense exchange of fire since a 2014 war.
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About 100 rockets and mortars have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system, the Israeli military said.
Palestinian officials said at least six people, including two militants, were killed by Israeli fire and nine were wounded, and an Israeli airstrike destroyed the ruling Hamas group's TV station.
In Israel, a civilian was killed, and the national rescue service said at least 20 people were wounded, several seriously, including a 19-year-old soldier who was in critical condition.
say it was the largest barrage of rockets and mortar shells fired at the country from Gaza in a single day.
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Video published by Hamas appears to show an Israeli army bus hit by a surprise guided-missile attack near the Israel-Gaza border
On Monday night militants launched some 100 rockets in less than an hour, the most intense barrage since the 50-day war four years ago.
The outgoing rockets, which continued into the evening, lit up the skies of Gaza and set off air raid sirens throughout southern Israel.
The military said warplanes, helicopters and tanks had struck over 30 militant targets, including military compounds, observation posts and weapons facilities. It also said it targeted a squad that was launching rockets.
An airstrike destroyed the Gaza City headquarters of Hamas' Al Aqsa TV station.
Workers had evacuated the building after the warning shots, and there were no immediate reports of casualties.
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Rockets landed in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, setting off a large fire near a shopping centre.
Another rocket landed near a factory, and several homes were hit in southern towns. A home in the southern city of Ashkelon was destroyed.
Times of Israel reported that the body of a man in his 40s was found buried under the rubble of a four-storey building.
He was killed and two women were seriously injured after a rocket fired from Gaza struck an apartment building in Ashkelon shortly after midnight, said the United Hatzalah rescue service.
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Associated Press reported today that the man killed in a Palestinian rocket attack in southern Israel has been identified as a 48-year-old Palestinian labourer who had been working in the Israeli city of Ashkelon.
Relatives said Mahmoud Abu Asbeh, a dad-of-six, had worked there for 15 years, leaving his West Bank village of Halhul each Sunday and returning home on weekends.
His cousin Jihad Abu Asbeh called it a "big shock" and said the entire village was sad, adding that the worker's death was "God's will and there's nothing we can do about it".
The increased strikes come a day after a Hamas commander was assassinated during an Israeli Special Forces undercover operation inside Gaza.
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Undercover troops, apparently on a reconnaissance mission, were discovered inside Gaza, setting off a battle that left seven militants, including a Hamas commander, Nour Baraka, and a senior Israeli military officer dead.
Hamas then fired a guided missile that struck a bus from which soldiers had just disembarked, marking an upgrade over its typical inaccurate projectiles.
Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad said last night's rocket fire was revenge for Sunday night's botched Israeli incursion.
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But Israeli Mag Gen Kamil Abu Rukun warned that the militants had “crossed a red line” and that Israel would “continue to respond with an iron first against all terrorist activity or rocket fire,” reports the BBC.
Associated Press said that international mediators have appealed for restraint, hoping to avert another war.
However, the armed wing of Hamas threatened to step up its attacks and fire rockets further north toward the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Beersheba if Israel continued its airstrikes.
The spokesman for the Hamas military wing, identified only as Abu Obeida, said the deadly attack on the coastal city of Ashkelon showed the city "has entered the range of fire as a response to the bombing of buildings in Gaza."
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He said Ashdod and Beersheba ";are the next targets if the enemy continues bombing civilian buildings."
School has been cancelled in large parts of southern Israel and a local election has been postponed because of the threat of further attacks.
Over the past few months, the sides have come close to a major escalation several times, only to step back in favor of giving a chance to a long-term Egyptian mediated truce.
However, the current level of escalation and angry rhetoric, including Hamas' warnings to strike deeper inside Israel, might make it more difficult to restore calm.
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The Israeli security Cabinet began meeting to discuss the next steps, as the United Nations appealed for calm.
"The escalation in the past 24 hours is EXTREMELY dangerous and reckless," tweeted Nickolay Mladenov, a U.N. Middle East envoy. "Rockets must STOP, restraint must be shown by all!"
Egypt urged Israel to back down. The United States, whose peace mediation has been stalled since the seven-week war in 2014, has condemned Hamas.
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IDF posts video of what it says are dozens of rockets being fired from Gaza into Israel
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Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza from the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a visit to Paris because of the flare-up and returned to Israel on Monday for consultations with top security officials.
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