Israeli warplanes pound the Gaza Strip in an offensive they are calling "Operation Protective Edge" this evening, hitting a large number of targets in the center of the strip, as the situations moves closer to open warfare.

Israel's security cabinet met this evening, agreeing to a further escalation of the conflict, which has seen both sides trading airstrikes in previous days. Israel also declared a "State of Emergency" is southern towns, though so far the Gaza rockets, as usual, have done minimal damage and caused only one confirmed injury.

Israel has confirmed a large number of strikes in Gaza, though it has denied reports of six Hamas fighters killed in one of the strikes, saying they died in a tunnel in an unrelated explosion.