Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says an Israeli military operation has dealt a tough blow to Gaza terrorists but added that the fighting will continue for some time.
In a nationally televised speech late on Tuesday, he said Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups "have paid, and will pay a heavy price."
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He said Israel will press ahead with an intensified operation but said "it will take time" to complete the mission.
"We are at the height of a weighty campaign," Netanyahu continued, noting that the terrorists' blood "is forfeit" in the wake of their aggression.
The attacks by Hamas on Israel escalated on Tuesday, with at least 3 residents in Israel killed.
The barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip continued almost nonstop throughout the day, in what was the most intense fighting between Israel and Hamas since their 2014 war.
Israel Defense Forces chief Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said the IDF attacked more than 500 targets over the first day of Operation Guardian of the Walls. "Dozens of terrorists were killed," he said, before adding that "the IDF is deployed along the border and acting in coordination with our air defense disposition to intercept the rockets."
The comments by Kochavi and Netanyahu were made after the rocket fire extended to Tel Aviv. A woman in her 50s was killed in Rishon L'Zion and the outgoing volleys set off air raid sirens across central Israel and beyond, and the Ben Gurion International Airport halted flights briefly.
One rocket struck a bus in the central city of Holon, just south of Tel Aviv. Medics said three people, including a 5-year-old girl, were wounded and the bus went up in flames.
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