Stepping up its offensive, Israeli today hit about 200 targets in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killing at least 17 people, triggering a retaliation from the Palestinian group which fired a barrage of rockets deep into the Jewish state in the bloodiest conflict since 2012.
Israel also mobilised thousands of forces along the Gaza border for a possible ground operation.
The army is ready for all possibilities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after holding a cabinet meeting today.
"The operation will expand and continue until the fire toward our towns stops and quiet returns," he said, as Israeli jets pounded Hamas positions for the second day today, bringing the death toll to 44, including women and children.
Hamas-ruled Gaza witnessed its bloodiest day today since November, 2012 as Israel's military said it targeted 118 concealed rocket launchers, 10 Hamas command-and-control centres and 10 tunnels, overnight injuring nearly 300.
It brought to 440 the number of targets in Gaza attacked as part of "Operation Protective Edge".
More than 180 rockets hit various parts of Israel today with the Islamist Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip since June 2007, claiming responsibility for most of them.
Rocket alert sirens sounded in Zichron Yaakov today, some 120 kms north of the Gaza Strip, signalling that Hamas has now developed the capability to hit targets anywhere in Israel.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed that two rockets fell in open areas of the Hof Hacarmel Regional Council south of Haifa, some 165 kilometres north of Gaza. It was the furthest a rocket fired from Gaza has ever travelled. There were no casualties.
According to the IDF, more than 225 rockets were fired at Israel since Operation Protective Edge began late on Monday with the Iron Dome interceptor system shooting down 20 while three rockets landed around Jerusalem, the BBC reported.
At least one militant was among the 17 killed today as well as six children and five women, Palestinian emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
Israeli Air Force strikes across the coastal strip which targeted 160 sites, including homes of eight senior Hamas operatives, Muhammad Sinwar and Ra'ed Atar, as efforts to stop rocket attacks on Israel's southern areas intensified.
The IDF said their houses served as Hamas command centres and were used in coordinating the rocket fire on Israel.
Israeli warplanes also bombed the home of a senior Islamic Jihad militant in Beit Hanoun post-midnight, killing him and five members of his family.
