1:29 PM ET: Fresh rocket launches are reported in the Gaza periphery, as are Iron Dome interceptions. Walla news reports that one rocket hit a structure in a kibbutz. There were no people there at the time.
1:16 PM ET:  A short time ago Israel struck a 13-story residential building in Gaza City. According to Channel 12, prior to the strike people in the building received several warnings, including phone calls and messages, telling them to leave and a preliminary “roof-knocking” strike — using a small missile to strike the roof with minimal damage in order to cause all inside to leave before a major strike. Hamas earlier threatened to launch long-range rockets at Tel Aviv should Israel continue airstrikes in residential areas. Channel 12 says the group was apparently referring to the high-rise in question. It is not yet clear why Israel targeted the building. The network reports it apparently served as the home for many terror operatives, including some released by Israel during the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.
12:48 PM ET: The military says 630 rockets have been launched toward Israel since yesterday, with 480 rockets fired into Israeli territory and some 150 failed launches that fell inside Gaza territory. It says some 200 of the 480 rockets were intercepted by Iron Dome (the system does not target rockets calculated to hit unpopulated areas).
12:31 PM ET: After a series of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Hamas threatens to fire rockets at Tel Aviv should Israel continue targeting what it claims are residential areas. Israel conducted attacks inside Gaza City today, some of which were targeted strikes against Hamas and Islamic Jihad commanders. Israel says many terror targets are intentionally located within residential areas to shield them from attack. “If the enemy persists in bombing civilian towers, then Tel Aviv will have an appointment with a harsh missile strike that exceeds what happened in Ashkelon,” a spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing says.
12:14 PM ET: The military is reporting an apparent shooting attempt in the West Bank’s Tapuah Junction. It says two assailants have been shot. No Israelis are hurt. According to Ynet, the two rolled down their car’s windows and pulled out handguns which they pointed at soldiers stationed at the intersection. The troops shot them. The report says one of the assailants was killed and another seriously injured.
12:05 PM ET: Hamas’s armed wing says the terror group used a new kind of “Sijeel” missile to strike Israeli cities today, one which the organization claims successfully bypassed Israel’s Iron Dome defense system. “For the first time, we utilized the tactic of firing the Sijeel missiles at Ashkelon, which have a high destructive power and succeeded in overcoming the Iron Dome,” the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades say in a statement. Hebrew media has reported that a temporary malfunction in Iron Dome and the large volume of rockets fired within a short span of time may have contributed to the ability to hit the city. The Israeli army has not commented on Hamas’s claims.
12:02 PM ET: The Israel Defense Forces says it has launched a major offensive against the Hamas terror group’s rocket-launching capabilities in the northern Gaza Strip, after hundreds of projectiles were fired from the area at Israeli cities across the border earlier in the day. IDF spokesperson Hidai Zilberman says some 80 fighter jets, including the advanced F-35 aircraft, are taking part in the operation, which began this afternoon. According to Zilberman, the military aims to destroy dozens of rocket launch tubes that the terror group has buried around the northern Gaza Strip. The spokesman says this would “totally neutralize” the rocket launching capabilities of three Hamas brigades in northern Gaza.