Gaza conflict resumes with 15 casualties

GAZA militants have intensified a wave of rocket fire into southern Israel, striking towns and cities and killing at least three people in one of the bloodiest rounds of fighting in the region since the 2014 war.

At least 12 Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her 14-month-old niece, have also been killed.

Israeli forces struck dozens of targets throughout Gaza, including militant sites it claimed were concealed in homes.

The army also moved armoured units towards Gaza as hostilities intensified.

Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies that have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007, as well as numerous smaller flare-ups, most recently in late March.

These flare-ups have become increasingly frequent in recent years, ending in informal Egyptian-mediated truces in which Israel pledges to ease a blockade on Gaza imposed after the Hamas takeover, while the militants promise to halt rocket fire. As with previous fighting, the latest violence began amid Palestinian accusations that Israel was not moving quickly enough to ease the blockade.

Yesterday, Israeli father- of-four Moshe Agadi, 58, died after he was hit in the chest by shrapnel in a residential courtyard. The Barzilai Medical Centre said a 49-year-old man was also killed when a rocket hit a factory, while another man was killed when his vehicle was hit by a projectile near Yad Mordechai.

The Israeli military said militants had fired more than 600 rockets into the country, and that Israeli forces had launched some 260 air strikes against targets in Gaza. Palestinian health officials reported 12 dead, including eight militants. The other dead included a pregnant woman and her niece; Israel claims they were killed by a misfired Palestinian rocket.