Gaza crisis: Israel's Barak calls up army reservists

The announcement came after Palestinian militants fired rockets from Gaza 70km (45 miles) north towards Tel Aviv.

Egyptian PM Hisham Qandil is to travel to Gaza on Friday in a show of support.

Fighting has intensified since Israel killed Ahmed Jabari, the military leader of the Islamist group that controls the territory, on Wednesday, BBC reports.

At least 18 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, including children, and three Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rocket fire into southern Israel.

'Unacceptable aggression'

By Thursday night, Hamas said it had fired more than 350 rockets from Gaza, of which Israel said 130 had been intercepted by its Iron Dome missile defence system.

But in Tel Aviv, residents took cover after air raid sirens alerted them to a missile threat for the first time there since 1991. One missile landed in an uninhabited area while one is thought to have landed in the sea.

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad said it had fired an Iranian-built, Fajr-5 rocket - which has an estimated range of 75km.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said targeting Tel Aviv would "exact a price that the other side will have to pay".

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