An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier adjusts a .50 caliber gun on a humvee parked in a defensive position at a base outside Nahal Oz, next to the Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday. After months of calm a new round of violence started between Isreael and the Gaza Strip. Photo: CFP

Israel pounded nearly 30 targets in Gaza overnight after militants fired scores of rockets into the south, prompting Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to demand Thursday that it halt its "escalation."

The rocket barrage, which was the heaviest since an eight-day conflict between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers in November 2012, sent thousands of Israelis fleeing for cover across the south on Wednesday afternoon.

So far, there have been no reports of casualties on either side of the border.

Experts said Israel was not interested in a major confrontation with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

The latest tit-for-tat violence was sparked by an incident on Tuesday when militants of the hardline Islamic Jihad group fired a mortar round at troops allegedly trying to enter southern Gaza, prompting an Israeli air strike which killed three of them.

In retaliation, Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Quds Brigades, fired scores of rockets over the border on Wednesday, with putting the number at 130.

Israel responded with air strikes on 29 targets across Gaza, hitting bases used by Hamas as well as those of Islamic Jihad, which has so far claimed all of the rocket fire.

The army said more than 60 rockets had struck southern Israel on Wednesday, five of them hitting populated areas. Another three were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

Another three rockets struck southern Israel on Thursday morning. The army said one crashed into an open area near the border, while the other two struck between the port cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.

"Two rockets were fired, one north of Ashkelon, the second south of Ashdod, landing in open areas," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon blamed both Islamic Jihad and Hamas and said anyone firing at Israel would be responsible for his own fate.

"Hamas is responsible for the strip and if it does not know how to prevent fire on Israel from its territory, we will act against it and all of its broader interests," he said.

The air strikes, which began at around 2030 GMT on Wednesday, prompted a sharp rebuke from Abbas, who demanded Israel "put an end to its military escalation in the besieged Gaza Strip," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

 Abbas on Thursday condemned the military escalation in and around the Gaza Strip, including rocket fire on Israel, at a news conference in Bethlehem.

"We condemn all military escalation, including rockets," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back during a tour with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"As the Teva [pharmaceutical] factory in Ashdod is manufacturing medications to be sent to Gaza, over there they are firing rockets at innocent Israelis," he told the British leader.

AFP