Israeli air strikes occurred every few minutes on Wednesday while militants kept up rocket fire at Israel's heartland in intensifying warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 44 people in the Hamas-dominated enclave, according to The Associated Press.
Other communities near Tel Aviv in central Israel and in the south, closer to Gaza, were also targeted, the AP reported. In the longest-range attack since Tuesday, when Israel stepped up its offensive, a rocket hit near Zichron Yaakov, a town 70 miles north of Gaza.
The military said 48 rockets struck Israel on Wednesday, and Iron Dome intercepted 14 others, with frequent explosions from air strikes echoing through Gaza City, according to the AP.
Israeli leaders, who seem to have wide popular support at home for the Gaza operation, have warned of a lengthy campaign and possible ground invasion of the heavily populated Palestinian territory, the AP reported.
"We have decided to step up even more the attacks on Hamas and terrorist organizations in Gaza," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, according to the AP. "The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are prepared for every option. Hamas will pay a heavy price for firing at Israeli citizens."
The Israeli military said it had bombarded 550 Hamas sites, including 60 rocket launchers and 11 homes of senior Hamas members. It described those dwellings as command centers, the AP reported.
Palestinian officials said at least 25 houses were either destroyed or damaged and not all belonged to militants, according to the AP. The build-up to the most serious hostilities between Israel and Gaza militants since an eight-day war in 2012 began three weeks ago with rocket attacks following the abduction and killing of three Jewish seminary students in the occupied West Bank.
At least 38 civilians, including 10 children, were among the 44 Palestinian dead in two days of fighting, and some 300 people have been wounded, hospital officials said, the AP reported.
Palestinian rocket barrages have sent Israelis racing for bomb shelters, with radio stations constantly interrupting regular broadcasts to announce where sirens have sounded, according to the AP.
