Gaza returns deadly rocket fire on Israel

Three people have been killed when rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit the southern Israeli town of Kiryat Malahi, an Israeli police spokesperson has said.The rocket attacked on Thursday was claimed by the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and comes amid a wave of Israeli air strikes that have killed 11 people and injured more than 100 in the territory, according to Palestinian medical sources. “We have three killed,” spokeswoman Luba Samri told the AFP news agancy, saying four other people were also injured in a “direct hit on a house” in the town which lies 30km north of the Gaza Strip.The fighting began when Israel assassinated Ahmed al-Jabari, head of Hamas’ military wing, with an air strike on his car in Gaza on Wednesday. Jabari’s son was also killed in the strike.Thursday’s rocket fire on Kiryat Malahi was claimed by Jabari’s group, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, in a statement on its website. Israeli authorities said more than 200 rockets and mortars were fired by Hamas and other armed groups from Gaza as of Thursday morning, and its Iron Dome interceptor had shot down 27 of the missiles.On either side of the frontier, people fled streets for cover.Expecting days or more of fighting, Israel warned Hamas all its men were in its sights and weathered censure from influential Arab countries with the Arab League announcing it was to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday and Egypt recalling its ambassador to Israel.The United States condemned Hamas, shunned by the West as an obstacle to peace.‘Clear message’ Speaking on Wedneday night, hours after a major wave of air strikes pounded targets in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, killing Ahmad al-Jaabari and at least ten other people, Netanyahu vowed that Israel would not tolerate any further rocket fire on its territory.In the televised address on Wednesday evening, Netanyahu said: “Today we sent a clear message to Hamas and other terrorist organisations, and if it becomes necessary we are prepared to expand the operation.“Hamas and the terror organisations have chosen to escalate their attacks on the citizens of Israel in recent days,” he said after consultations with his security cabinet.“We will not tolerate a situation in which Israeli citizens are threatened by rocket fire.”Al Jazeera’s Nadim Baba, reporting from Gaza, said: “In the last 30 seconds there was another big blast. [The strikes] have been going on all evening.“It is not just air strikes, but also strikes from Israeli naval ships just off the coast of Gaza.”Baba said the streets of Gaza City on Wednesday evening were “eerily quiet, except for the sound of ambulances”.“The latest from medical sources is that at least seven people have been killed, including two children, and at least 60 people have been wounded, including 10 children.”‘Gates of hell’ The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas headed by Jabari, issued a communique saying Israel had “opened the gates of hell on itself”, and Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said the strike was tantamount to a “declaration of war”.“The occupation committed a dangerous crime and crossed all the red lines, which is considered a declaration of war”, he said in a statement.“The occupation will pay dearly for this and we will make it regret the moment they thought about it.”Hamas said it had fired at least 20 rockets into Israel in retaliation for Jabari’s killing.Mark Regev, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s office, told Al Jazeera: “We are continuing to hit Hamas targets, and their missile sites, because we knew they would responding immediately...Ultimately we did not want this round of fighting, it was forced upon us.“We will not allow Hamas to terrorise our civilian population. All the options are open.“Our most important goal is to protect our people. Hamas has deliberately targeted civilians. They deliberately use Gaza civilians as human shields, too.”The strikes came after five days of rising tensions along the Gaza border which began on Saturday when Palestinian fighters fired an anti-tank rocket at an army jeep, sparking Israeli fire which killed seven.