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Gaza missiles fired at Tel Aviv Gaza missiles fired at Tel Aviv
(35 minutes later)
Palestinian militants have attempted to hit Israel's commercial capital, Tel Aviv, with missiles fired from Gaza. Palestinian militants have targeted Israel's commercial capital Tel Aviv with missiles fired from the Gaza Strip amid escalating violence in the region.
Residents took cover after air raid sirens alerted them to a missile threat for the first time in two decades, but there were no casualties. Residents took cover after air raid sirens alerted them to a missile threat for the first time there since 1991.
Israel's defence minister authorised the call-up of 30,000 reservists. One missile landed in an uninhabited area while at least one more is thought to have landed in the sea off the city.
Three Israelis were killed by rockets from Gaza earlier, while 15 Palestinians have been killed in two days of Israeli attacks on Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel's defence minister has authorised the call-up of 30,000 reservists.
Israel said 274 missiles had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel since Wednesday afternoon, when an Israeli strike killed the military leader of Hamas, Ahmed Jabari. Fifteen Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations against militants in Gaza Strip since Wednesday afternoon, when an Israeli air strike killed the military leader of Hamas, the militant group that controls the territory, in his car.
While some of those missiles have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system, others have hit their targets, including a direct hit on a block of flats in the town of Kiryat Malachi. Three Israelis have died during a barrage of hundreds of missiles fired from Gaza, mostly into southern Israel, some of which have been intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system.
Two women and a man living on the top floor were killed. The rocket fired at Tel Aviv that came down on dry land hit a field in Rishon Lezion, south of the city.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: "This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay." The armed wing of Islamic Jihad said it had fired an Iranian-built, Fajr-5 rocket at Tel Aviv.
'Steadfast' "We have widened the range of the battle to reach Tel Aviv and what is coming will be greater," the group said in a statement.
However, Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned what he called Israel's "ferocious assault" against Gaza.
The danger of the kind of operation Israel has started is that rising casualties on both sides cause a violent escalation that neither side can control. If that happens it could cause a much bigger crisis across the Middle East.The danger of the kind of operation Israel has started is that rising casualties on both sides cause a violent escalation that neither side can control. If that happens it could cause a much bigger crisis across the Middle East.
The overwhelming mood in Gaza is sombre but vengeful. Sombre because few here want another war with Israel - another war in which civilians would undoubtedly suffer as much as the fighters.The overwhelming mood in Gaza is sombre but vengeful. Sombre because few here want another war with Israel - another war in which civilians would undoubtedly suffer as much as the fighters.
There is a gaping hole on the top floor of an old four-storey apartment building where two Israeli families were living. A resident Yerumichael Simon told me: "I live across the street and I used to live inside that building."There is a gaping hole on the top floor of an old four-storey apartment building where two Israeli families were living. A resident Yerumichael Simon told me: "I live across the street and I used to live inside that building."
"We here in Gaza will remain steadfast and unshaken," he said in a televised statement. "We will fend off the aggression." This is the first time Tel Aviv has been threatened by missiles since the first Gulf War, when missiles fired by Saddam Hussein's Iraq landed in the city.
"We are all confident in our intrepid resistance fighters who are now deployed on the front," he said. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said: "This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay."
The Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned what he called Israel's "ferocious assault" against the territory.
"We here in Gaza will remain steadfast and unshaken," he said in a televised statement. "We will fend off the aggression.
"We are all confident in our intrepid resistance fighters who are now deployed on the front."
Late on Thursday, BBC correspondents in Gaza reported several massive explosions and missile fire in and around Gaza City as Israeli strikes continued.Late on Thursday, BBC correspondents in Gaza reported several massive explosions and missile fire in and around Gaza City as Israeli strikes continued.
The two rockets fired at Tel Aviv landed south of the city, in Rishon Lezion, and in the sea. Many of the Palestinians killed in Gaza during the last two days by the Israeli aerial and naval bombardment were members of militant groups, but civilians - including four children - were also among the dead. They included 11-month-old Omar, the son of Jihad Misharawi, a BBC Arabic picture editor.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad said it had fired an Iranian-built, Fajr-5 rocket at Tel Aviv. The three Israeli civilians who died - two women and a man - were killed on the top floor of a block of flats in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi that suffered a direct hit by a rocket.
"We have widened the range of the battle to reach Tel Aviv and what is coming will be greater," the group said in a statement.
This is the first time Tel Aviv has been threatened by missiles since the 1991 Gulf War, when missiles fired by Saddam Hussein's Iraq landed in the city.
The Times of Israel website says sirens were also sounded in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bnei Brak, Givatayim and Ramat Gan.
Many of the 15 Palestinians killed in Gaza during a two-day Israeli aerial and naval bombardment were members of militant groups, but civilians - including four children - were also among the dead.
They included 11-month-old Omar, the son of Jihad Misharawi, a BBC Arabic picture editor.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will do "everything in its power" to avoid civilian casualties in the conflict with Hamas.Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will do "everything in its power" to avoid civilian casualties in the conflict with Hamas.
But he said Hamas was deliberately placing its rockets and missiles in civilian areas prior to launching them at Israel.But he said Hamas was deliberately placing its rockets and missiles in civilian areas prior to launching them at Israel.
"There is no moral symmetry between Israel and the terrorists in Gaza," he said during a televised news conference in Tel Aviv."There is no moral symmetry between Israel and the terrorists in Gaza," he said during a televised news conference in Tel Aviv.
"Hamas deliberately targets our children and they deliberately place their rockets next to their children. Now despite this reality - and it's a difficult reality - Israel will continue to do everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties.""Hamas deliberately targets our children and they deliberately place their rockets next to their children. Now despite this reality - and it's a difficult reality - Israel will continue to do everything in its power to avoid civilian casualties."
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