TEL-AVIV, November 15 (RIA Novosti) - Three Israelis were killed and two injured in southern Israel on Thursday by a rocket fired by Palestinians from Gaza, the Israeli army press service said.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack on the four-story building in the town of Kiryat Malachi, 25 km north of Gaza.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the site of the attack, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
More than 130 rockets have been fired from Gaza across the border in the last 24 hours, including 45 since midnight, of which 13 were intercepted by Israel's new Iron Dome short-range air defense system, Haaretz said.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has struck more than 100 targets in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, killing 13, Palestinians say.
The Israeli army said on Wednesday it had started a large-scale operation to wipe out militant commanders and “terrorist infrastructure” in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.
Ahmed al-Jabari, head of Hamas' armed wing, Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam, was killed on Wednesay when his car was hit by an Israeli missile fired in an air strike.
The Israeli forces have also attacked rocket launch sites belonging to Hamas and another Gaza-based group, Islamic Jihad.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have called for retaliation saying “Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences.”
