Three people have been killed as rockets fired from Gaza struck southern Israel, amid escalating violence, BBC reported.

They died when a four-storey building in the town of Kiryat Malachi was hit.

The three Israelis - two women and a man - died when a rocket hit the top floor of the building in Kiryat Malachi, about 25km (15 miles) north of Gaza.

Three other people - a four-year-old boy and two babies - were injured, Israel's foreign ministry said.

The building's residents were warned by sirens about the impending attack, but did not have enough time to escape, reports said.

It marks the first Israeli fatalities since Israel killed Hamas' military chief in Gaza on Wednesday.

Thirteen Palestinians, mainly militants but also children, have been killed in the continuing Israeli operation. About 200 rockets have been fired into Israel, the Israeli army says.

It says that 145 of them were destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor system.

Hundreds of rockets were fired into Israel by militants in Gaza, and Israel carried out numerous air strikes as cross-border violence soared in recent weeks.

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