PALESTINIAN MILITANTS KILLED 3 ISRAELITES. HAS THE WAR BEGUN?

Rockets and shells crisscrossed the skies over southern Israel and Gaza on Thursday as Palestinian militants continued rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and Israel pounded what it called terror sites.

Israel reported three people were killed, and Palestinians reported 18 deaths, including three killed late Thursday. Hamas gave conflicting information as to how many of them were Hamas militants.

At least 300 rockets from Gaza have been fired into Israel since "Operation Pillar of Defense" began Wednesday, the Israeli military said. Israel's Iron Dome defense system has intercepted 130, the Israel Defense Forces said. The al-Qassam Brigade,

Hamas' military arm, said on its Twitter feed that it had shot 527 projectiles at Israel in that time.

 One rocket struck an open area near Rishon LeZion, an Israeli city with more than 200,000 residents, the 

 Also, air sirens went off inside and outside the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. The building was evacuated briefly, and employees were allowed back in when the sirens stopped. An explosion was heard far off in the distance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the building at the time of the evacuation, ministry officials said.

Israel has targeted more than 300 "terror sites" in Gaza, "severely damaging the capabilities of Palestinian terrorist organizations," the IDF said. The military said it targeted scores of "medium and long range rocket launch and infrastructure sites across the Gaza Strip." The Navy has taken aim at targets along Gaza's shoreline, the IDF said.

Sources with Hamas, which controls the government in Gaza, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad gave similar figures, saying that more than 140 strikes have hit Gaza and that scores of rockets and shells have been fired into Israel.

The al-Qassam Brigade said its operatives downed a military drone east of Gaza. An Israeli military spokeswoman told CNN that no IDF aircraft was shot down.

At least three Israelis were killed and four were wounded when a rocket struck an apartment building in the town of Kiryat Malakhi on Thursday, an Israeli police spokesman said.

Israeli military spokeswoman Avital Leibovich tweeted a photo that she said was a baby wounded from a rocket attack in Israel. The baby's face is blurred, but she appears to be spattered with blood.

The al-Qassam Brigade tweeted a screen shot from Hamas-run al Aqsa TV, showing the mangled body of a child. "Israel's military kills Palestinian children in cold blood in #Gaza," the tweet said.

Eighteen people in Gaza have been killed, according to Health Ministry officials.

Earlier, Dr. Asraf el-Qdra of the group Medical Aid for Palestinians said 13 people, including two children, were killed in airstrikes. Of the casualties, nine were Hamas militants, a Hamas source told CNN.

But Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan told CNN the dead included five children. He identified only two as Hamas militants.

Palestinian officials said more than 120 people have been wounded since the Israeli strikes began this week in Gaza. Israel has reported several people wounded, including another three soldiers injured Thursday morning by rockets from Gaza.