More than 70 rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip overnight and Israel retaliated with deadly airstrikes

Screenshot/IDF Spokesperson's Unit

• Palestinian militants on the Gaza Strip launched at least 70 rockets at Israel overnight, and Israel retaliated by pounding the region with deadly airstrikes.
• The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that mounting violence began on Wednesday after militants shot at an IDF vehicle in Gaza.
• In response, Israel responded with tank fire, which provoked a barrage of rocket fire into Israel and further airstrikes in Gaza. 
• Three Israelis were wounded by rocket shrapnel, while three Palestinians including a 23-year-old pregnant woman and her 18-month old child were killed in airstrikes. Eight Palestinian civilians were also wounded. 
• Israel and Gaza have gone to war three times over the last decade, and both sides are working quickly toward an uneasy ceasefire to prevent another one.

Palestinian militants on the Gaza Strip launched at least 70 rockets at Israel overnight, and Israel retaliated by pounding the region with deadly airstrikes.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that mounting violence began on Wednesday after militants shot at an IDF vehicle in Gaza Strip. In response, Israel responded with tank fire. 

In the hours following the exchange, sirens sounded across Southern Israel in communities that surround the Gaza Strip, including Sderot. Israel deployed its Iron Dome system and intercepted 11 launches, though several civilians were injured by shrapnel.

Israel's rescue service Magen David Adom said three Israelis, including two men aged 34 and 20 were taken to hospital for treatment. 

In another round of escalation, Israel responded to rocket fire by striking what it says are Hamas militant targets in Gaza. By early Thursday morning, IDF said it struck more than 100 targets.

A 30-year-old Hamas affiliate was killed in the strikes, Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qedra said. A 23-year-old pregnant woman and her 18-month old child were also killed in the strikes, according to the ministry. At least eight other civilians in Gaza were also injured, the ministry said. 

IDF said it fired at a vehicle used to launch rockets at Israeli territory. 

Israel and militants in Gaza have exchanged frequent fire in recent months. In May, more than 100 rockets were launched from Gaza in the worst escalation since 2014, where Israeli troops invaded Gaza, resulting in mass casualties. 

Following May's rocket attacks, Israel and Gaza eventually reached an uneasy ceasefire mediated by Egypt, though rocket launches and airstrike retaliation has continued to plague both sides. 

Both sides have said they are working towards a ceasefire agreement, though continued rocket fire may dampen efforts. As of Thursday morning, sirens continued to sound in Israeli border communities. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a trip to Colombia in order to meet with security officials for ceasefire negotiations. However, Israel appears to be learning more towards a quid-pro-quo agreement with Hamas instead of a comprehensive ceasefire, as past resolutions have often crumbled. 

According to Haaretz, an Israeli official source said last week that ceasefire talks will not succeed unless the bodies of slain Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians being held captive in Gaza were returned. 

A Hamas official told Turkish news agency Anadolu on Tuesday that both sides were expected to sign an agreement by late August, which would reportedly lift restrictions on the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip in exchange for a five-year ceasefire and the return of the Israeli captives. 

Israel's defense chief said last month that Gaza's only commercial border crossing, Keren Shalom, would reopen if calm persisted. The border had been closed in response to damage caused by incendiary balloons launched into Israeli territory. 

Hamas deputy chief Khalil Al-Hayya told Al Jazeera TV on Wednesday that United Nations and Egypt mediated talks to bring calm to the region were in "advanced stages." according to Reuters. 

"We can say that actions led by the United Nations and Egypt are in advanced stages and we hope it could yield some good from them," he said. "What is required is for calm to be restored along the border between us and the Zionist enemy."

Both the UN and Egypt have not publicly discussed their plans for a renewed Gaza ceasefire, but have said it would bring economic relief to Gaza's two million residents experiencing shortages under crippling blockades. 

US Envoy Jason Greenblatt who has been involved in peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine, pointed a finger squarely at Hamas for the escalation of violence. 

Islamic militant group Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since Israel disengaged from the region in 2005. Since then, the group has fought three wars with Israel, most recently in 2014, which has seen deaths and injuries of thousands of civilians and has left much of Gaza is ruin.