Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force carried out a series of raids on up to 160 targets in Gaza Strip over the past hours, the Israeli Army confirmed on Wednesday.
A military spokesman said despite the intensive air attacks, Palestinian gunners continued firing missiles, targeting Israeli towns and cities including Tel Aviv. Residents of Tel Aviv, the spokesman said, heard explosions when anti-missile rockets were fired to intercept incoming Palestinian-unleashed missiles, roaring in the direction of the city. At least two rockets were intercepted over Tel Aviv, he added.
Sirens blared in many Israeli towns and settlements while authorities urged the settlers to stay in underground shelters.
The army spokesman confirmed that the air force warplanes carried out strikes on up to 160 targets in Gaza over the past hours. The attacks targeted border man-made tunnels, buildings used by the Islamic group Hamas and the group's "interior ministry's" headquarters.
According to the Israeli media network, "Yedioth Ahronoth," the Palestinians fired, last night, up to 147 missiles on Israeli towns and cities. It said the Israeli "iron dome" defense system intercepted 29 missiles.
Meanwhile, Palestinian security sources said the Israeli military aircraft executed a series of raids over the past hours, hitting targets in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The sources said at least seven Palestinians died in the latest wave of air attacks on the enclave. Six of the dead were members of a single family whose house, located in Bait Hanoun, was directly hit with rockets. One member of the family, a baby, survived the attack, though with critical wounds.
A Palestinian was killed and two others were wounded in another air attack east of Rafah in southern Gaza.
Simultaneously, Israeli gunboats fired dozens of shells on targets in northern coastal regions in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian sources, the Israeli air-sea attacks demolished about 40 civilians' houses in the sector.
In Hay Al-Zaitoun, eight members of a family were wounded in an air attack. Eighteen others were wounded in concentrated bombardment targeting vicinity of Gaza European Hospital. Meanwhile, two Palestinians sustained serious cuts due to another attack from the air as the pair were riding a motorcycle in Bait Hanoun.
Near Ramallah, Palestinian youth burst into the Jewish settlement of Bait Eil, setting an observation post afire while engaging in clashes with Israeli troops.
Tit-for-tat attacks between the Israelis and Palestinians have alarmingly escalated following recent abduction and killing of three young Jewish settlers, followed with an identical incident that involved a Palestinian hitchhiker.
Israel has blamed Hamas for killing the Jewish teens and has coupled words with stepped up attacks. And the Palestinians have retaliated with a series of missile attacks, mostly targeting southern Israel.
Meanwhile, Izz-Eddine Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, said its gunners targeted Tel Aviv with four "M-75" missiles The M-75 rocket is one type of various missiles, locally fabricated by the Palestinian factions in Gaza.
Israel Radio confirmed Tel Aviv was targeted with a volley of rockets, and that sirens echoed across the city.
In the town of Al-Meghraqa in southern Gaza, an old Palestinian woman died in one of the latest Israeli attacks, according to Palestinian radio stations. In Dair Al-Balah, three Palestinians were wounded in an identical attack on a house.
Source: KUNA