TEL AVIV – Palestinian militants and the Israeli army exchanged a barrage of deadly fire in the early hours of Wednesday as intense fighting continued overnight, with UN envoy for Middle East Peace Tor Wennesland warning the two sides were heading “towards a full-scale war”.
Israeli police reported two people had been killed after Hamas and Islamic Jihad said they had launched more than 300 rockets into Israel in retaliation for attacks on buildings and civilians.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces said they had launched their largest strike across the Strip since the 2014 Gaza conflict, including targeting the homes of senior Hamas figures.
The heaviest fire in years between the foes has been triggered by violence in Jerusalem, and has killed at least 35 Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and five people in Israel, as well as wounding hundreds more.
In the crowded, Israeli-blockaded enclave of Gaza that Hamas controls, 12 children and one woman were among those killed since Monday night.
A further 230 people were reported wounded from the ongoing Israeli air strikes, many rescued from the smouldering ruins of buildings.  
Earlier, Defence Minister Benny Gantz warned “this is just the beginning” of Israel’s strikes.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh vowed in turn that “if Israel wants to escalate, we are ready for it”.
– ‘It was scary’ –
In Israel, sirens sounded as Hamas rockets rained down, and some of those unable to make it to underground shelters took cover under bridges.
“It was scary,” said Haim Roy Ben Shlomo, 38, resident of Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv, adding he had heard “several loud shots, or booms, above our heads”.
A man and a girl were killed Wednesday in the central city of Lod after a car they were in was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, Israeli police said.