Over 155 people are reported killed after Israel launched a series of air strikes against multiple targets in the Gaza Strip.

Around 30 missiles destroyed security compounds run by the militant group Hamas in the centre of Gaza City, killing dozens and leaving many buried under the rubble.

More than 250 people have also been wounded in the attacks, said Gaza Health Ministry official Moawiya Hassanain.

The strikes came after the expiry of a truce with Hamas. Israel said they were launched in response to continued rocket fire by Palestinian militants against Israeli towns.

An Israeli military statement claimed the operation targeted “Hamas terror operatives” as well as training camps and weaponry storage warehouses.

Hamas immediately vowed to carry out revenge attacks on Israel. “Hamas will continue the resistance until the last drop of blood,” said the group’s spokesman Fawzi Barhoum, speaking on a Gaza radio station.

Israel told its civilians near Gaza to take cover, and moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for restraint.

The first round of airstrikes came just before noon, followed by several more waves of missiles. Dozens of security compounds were destroyed, claiming the life of Gaza police chief Major General Tawfiq Jaber.

The missiles struck as children were leaving school, leading to widespread confusion and panic.

Plumes of black smoke rose above Gaza City, as sirens wailed and mothers ran through the rubble searching desperately for their children.

Television footage showed Gaza City hospitals crowded with people and civilians transporting the wounded in their cars.

“We are treating people on the floor, in the corridors. We have no more space,” said one doctor at Gaza’s main Shifa Hospital.

The air strikes, the most intense Israeli attacks on Gaza in recent times, come amid rumours that a ground offensive is imminent.

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