JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched a major air campaign against the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday in a bid to halt rocket attacks on southern Israel from the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave, an IDF spokesperson told Xinhua.
The operation, dubbed "Protective Edge," aimed to "stop the terror Israel's citizens face on a daily basis," the spokesperson said, declining to give more details.
The Israel Air Force carried out multiple airstrikes against Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported, adding that nine Palestinians were injured in the strikes.
Israel's latest air campaign on Gaza occurred after the Israeli security cabinet decided Monday night to intensify airstrikes in response to a dramatic increase of rockets fired from Gaza in the day.
After a three-hour meeting, the Israeli security cabinet decided to refrain from carrying out a large-scale ground military operation.
Instead, it decided to boost the preparedness of the home front and deploy more Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in southern Israel.
An Israeli official was quoted by Israeli media as saying that the cabinet "instructed the army to prepare for a significant expansion of the operation." [ Earlier in the day, the IDF summoned 1,500 reservists to boost its preparedness in the south.
Figures from the IDF showed that more than 85 rockets were fired at southern Israel from Gaza throughout Monday.
The massive rocket fire on Monday occurred after the Israeli Air Force reportedly struck down a tunnel in Gaza Sunday night. Hamas said seven of its members were killed in the attack, but Israel denied such a saying. The IDF said the seven Hamas members were killed when explosives they were moving in the tunnel exploded.
The renewed conflict along the Gaza border has been the most massive round between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since November 2012 when Israel staged eight days of intense airstrikes on the territory.
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