Since Monday evening Israel has dropped rockets across the Gaza Strip, in a military operation launched named Operation Protective Edge. The raids have killed 28 Palestinians, including children, and injuring about 204 others

The Israeli Air Force has dropped approximately 400 tonnes of bombs and missiles on the Gaza Strip over the past two days, a senior official said today.Israeli radio quoted who they referred to as a “significant” figure, who could not be identified, as saying: “During the air force bombing of the Gaza Strip over the past two days, about 400 tonnes of bombs and missiles have been used, so increasing the level of destruction in the sector.”

The Israeli officer said: “The organisations in Gaza have a few hundred long-range missiles; some of them are hidden in places that cannot be targeted.”

Avihai Adraei, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said they had struck more than 160 targets throughout the Gaza Strip last night, pointing out that “since the beginning of the operation, 440 targets have been hit, and we have many more to go.”

He added, via Twitter: “Among the targets hit tonight were 10 tunnels and six Hamas posts, including the Department of Homeland Security and National Security and Hamas’ marine police headquarters.”

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said: “The battle against Hamas will intensify over the coming days; it will exact a huge price.”

He said, after a meeting with senior army commanders: “We are prepared for a campaign against Hamas, which will not end within days. Hamas is leading the current confrontation to a place in which it seeks to exact a heavy price from our home front. There is a need for patience.

“We are continuing to carry out attacks that are exacting a heavy price from Hamas,” Ya’alon said as Operation Protective Edge entered its second day. “We are destroying [Hamas’] arms, terrorist infrastructure, command and control systems, institutions, government buildings, terrorists’ homes, and we are killing terrorists in the organizational high command.”

Since Monday evening Israel has dropped rockets across the Gaza Strip, in a military operation launched named Operation Protective Edge.

The raids have killed 28 Palestinians, including children, and injuring about 204 others, some seriously, Palestinian medical sources said.