ISRAEL is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza if needed after the militants fired more than 450 rockets across the border, a military spokesman said.
The latest round of violence began on Friday during protests against the blockade of Gaza which saw two Israeli soldiers wounded at the border fence.
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Israel hit back with an air strike that killed two militants which prompted a barrage of rockets from Gaza, which began on Saturday morning.
An Israeli man, father-of-four died Moshe Agadi, 58, died early on Sunday in Ashkelon six miles north of Gaza, after being struck by shrapnel in his home.
Israel military says it has launched some 220 airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza.
More than 450 rockets, many of them intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system, have been fired at southern Israeli cities and villages since Friday.
A spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the army’s 7th armoured brigade had been deployed to the border with Gaza “on standby for offensive mission”.
“An armoured brigade is ready for various contingencies but earmarked for an offensive mission being by definition a mission that goes in side enemy terrain,” he said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli strikes had killed six Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her 14-month-old daughter, Seba Abu Arar, in their east Gaza City home Saturday.
But Lt. Col. Conricus claimed on Sunday that a detailed review had found that a Palestinian rocket had misfired and killed the two civilians.
He said the Palestinians were “trying to sell a story that isn’t true”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also Defence Minister, said Hamas was paying a “heavy price” for its rocket attacks against Israel.
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Hamas would be held accountable not only for its own militant actions but also for that of the Islamic Jihad, which operates under its jurisdiction in Gaza.
In a statement to his cabinet this morning, Mr Netanyahu said: “I instructed the military this morning to continue its massive strikes on terror elements in the Gaza Strip and ordered it to reinforce the troops around the Gaza Strip with tanks, artillery and infantry force.
Sirens wailed along the border region overnight warning of incoming attacks.
School was cancelled in southern Israel Sunday and and emergency declared.
Sirens were also sounded in the city of Rehovot, 10.5 miles southeast of Tel Aviv, which is preparing to host the Eurovision Song Contest in two weeks.
In Gaza, large explosions thundered across the blockaded enclave during the night as plumes of smoke rose into the air.
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Turkey said an office for its state news agency Anadolu was located in one of the multi-storey building’s hit and strongly denounced the strike.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, condemned the attacks as “a crime against humanity”.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said: “The resistance will continue to respond to the crimes by the occupation and it will not allow it to shed the blood of our people.”
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