Also on Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant announced a massive call-up of reservists amid continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and militant infiltration into Israel.
Prior to that, the Israeli emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA), said it had recorded the deaths of 22 Israelis in shelling by Palestinian militants, adding that hundreds of injured have been treated already and the treatment continues.
Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced it was in a state of war readiness. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on his way to the defense ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv for a meeting with the power bloc command.
On Saturday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said militants infiltrated Israel and fired more than 1,000 rockets from Gaza into its territory. Later in the day, the IDF declared a "counterterrorist" operation against Hamas. The military wing of the Hamas movement, the Al-Qassam Brigades, in turn, announced an operation against Israel.