Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he ordered the military to continue “massive strikes” on Gaza in response to rocket fire from the Strip.
“This morning I instructed the Israel 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,” Netanyahu said.
Rockets were fired from Gaza early Sunday in an escalation that has seen Israel respond with waves of strikes, amid fears of further escalation.
Israel claimed that 450 rockets had been fired from Gaza since Saturday, saying its air defenses intercepted many of them.
Meanwhile, six Palestinians, including a pregnant mother and her baby, were killed.
The Israeli army denied being involved in the incident and held Hamas responsible for the death of the woman and her baby.
For its part, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip which led to a number of deaths, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The organization considered this military escalation as a continuation of Israel's crimes and violations of international laws, charters and conventions.
OIC also called on effective parties of the international community to provide international protection to the Palestinian people and pressure Israel to stop its unjust aggression and respect the international law.
