Live: Deadly Gaza violence

A senior Israeli military official has told public broadcaster Kan that targeted assassinations would increase following the killing of Hamas commander Hamid al-Khodari.

"We are preparing to carry out counterterrorism operations, whenever Hamas and the Islamic Jihad are exposed to attacks on them," the source said.

"The strike was at the heart of Gaza, in urban areas, and a number of aircraft participated in the attack. But we are adding more and more steps against Hamas and Islamic Jihad with the targets we are attacking.”

Two Palestinians have been killed east of the al-Burij refugee camp, in central Gaza.

The dead have been identified as Mohammad Abu Armana, 30, and his cousin Mahmoud Abu Armana, 27.

Hagar, a filmmaker, has fled Moshav Netiv HaAsara, the closest Israeli community to Gaza.

“The situation is intolerable,” she tells MEE. “It’s very difficult to handle what is happening - from my side and on the other side too.”

“I feel frustrated, it’s madness. We have the ability to run away, but in Gaza they can’t go anywhere,” she adds.

Hagar, who is in her 40s and wished to only be identified by her first name, has taken her two daughters to Tel Aviv.

“Many people left the moshav, all the young people have,” she says. “I feel very depressed about the situation.”

Hamid al-Khodari, who was recently killed in an air strike in central Gaza City, was a Hamas commander and victim of a targeted assassination, Israel's military has said.

Hamas confirmed he was a senior member.

According to an Israeli military statement, Khodari had been responsible for transferring Iranian money to factions in Gaza.

Khodari's assassination appears to be the first targeted strike against a Hamas leader since the 2014 Gaza war.

Gilad Erdan, acting internal security minister, suggested earlier today that the tactic should be re-employed.

"We must increase our reaction in Gaza until there is quiet, and to return to targeted assassinations," he said.

Targeted assassinations, however, have in the past had the opposite effect of what Israel has intended, and provoked a violent response from the Hamas movement.

One Palestinian has been killed and another wounded in an Israeli strike on the middle of Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent says.

Hamid al-Khodari, 34, was hit while travelling in a car, according to the organisation.

Air strikes in the Gaza Strip have become particularly intense recently.

Hamas' military wing, the al-Qassam Brigade, has said it targeted an Israeli military jeep in the north of Gaza Strip with a device, which was not identified, hitting it directly.

There is no confirmation from the Israeli side.

Now is not a good time for Israel to fall into an all-out, prolonged war with Gaza, columnist and analyst Mohsen Abu Ramadan tells Middle East Eye.

“I wonder if Netanyahu would take the risk of big open war,” he says. “I am suspicious that he will do that because it will affect the open normalization process with some Arab countries in the region.”

These Arab states are needed to help implement Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” Israel-Palestine peace plan, he says.

Meanwhile, Abu Ramadan notes that it is a particularly sensitive time for Israel, with Independence Day, Nakba Day and Eurovision imminent.

Still, Abu Ramadan says, Netanyahu is using this conflict to project right-wing strength as he works to form a new government.

Two Israelis have been killed by rocket fire, Haaretz reports.

They were the two critically wounded people in the southern city of Ashkelon. That brings the total of Israeli deaths on over the weekend to three. According to Haaretz, 83 Israelis have received medical care.

Two more Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli strike east of Gaza City.

The Gaza health ministry has identified them as Bilal al-Bana and Abdullah Abu al-Ata.

The latest round of fire from Gaza has wounded three Israelis in the Mediterranean port city of Ashkelon, two of them seriously.

Meanwhile Israeli daily Haaretz is reporting that a rocket landed in the city of Beersheva in the Negev desert, causing massive damage.

At the funeral of slain 14-month-old Sebba Mahmoud Abu Arar, the girl's

Khalid Abu Arar tells MEE that she and her pregnant aunt Falastin Saleh Abu Arar were killed by an Israeli drone strike.

"We were sitting in the courtyard outside our house like any normal day, drinking tea and eating," he says. "Then an Israeli drone appeared in the sky."

"Sebba was sitting in her aunt's lap, and a missile fired from the drone hit them directly," he added. "Drones do not distinguish between civilians and fighters."

Earlier, Israel claimed that the pair were killed by a Hamas explosive device, not an Israeli strike.

Israeli air defences are intercepting a large number of rockets fired from Gaza into south Israel.

Rockets have been directed at important urban centres, such as the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheva.

All schools have been cancelled today.

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that he ordered "massive strikes" to continue on the Gaza Strip.

"This morning I instructed the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] to continue with massive strikes against terrorists in the Gaza Strip and I also instructed that forces around the Gaza Strip be stepped up with tank, artillery and infantry forces," he said.

Gaza has already suffered considerable damage. Musa abu-Marzouq, a member of Hamas' politburo, said his movement would refrain from inflicting the same amount of damage on Israel's civilian infrastructure.

“The Israeli occupation violates international law in targeting residential buildings and civil infrastructure. The Palestinian resistance will not commit the same crime in its response to the Israeli crimes,” he said.

That being said, rockets from Gaza have landed in civilian areas and residential buildings.

Dramatic scenes in Gaza this morning, captured by MEE photojournalist Mohammed al-Hajjar.

Six Palestinians and one Israeli have reportedly been killed since air strikes and rocket attacks began on Saturday:

• Sebba Mahmoud Abu Arar, 14 months
• Falastin Saleh Abu Ara, 37, along with her unborn child
• Khaled Mohammed Abu Qlaq, 2
• Imad Muhammad Nasir, 22
• Mahmoud Issa, 26
• Fawzi Bawadi, 23
• Moshe Agadi, 58

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry has reported that 47 Palestinians were wounded, and Israel has said that 58 Israelis have received medical treatment.