The Latest, Live Blog: Israel Under Siege

11:27 a.m.

Jordan’s foreign ministry is condemning an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip that killed a top militant commander.

The Israeli strike triggered a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza and set off the fiercest fighting between Israel and Gaza militants in months.

In a statement Tuesday, Daifallah al-Fayez, a spokesman for the Jordanian foreign ministry, blamed Israel for the ensuing escalation in violence.

He said the fighting “will only increase tension and violence, deepen the environment of despair and promote extremist agendas in the region.”

He called for Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations, saying that talks, along with an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the territory, could bring a solution to Gaza’s woes.

10:25 a.m.

Egyptian officials say Cairo is attempting to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza amid the worst bout of fighting there in recent months.

The officials say Egypt’s general intelligence agency has stepped up communications and has “opened channels” with the U.S. and the European Union. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

Egypt often acts as a mediator between Israel and Gaza militants, and brokered a cease-fire deal in May.

That deal appeared threatened Tuesday after a pre-dawn Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander.

Militants in Gaza have responded with rockets fired into Israel, and the Israeli military has carried out a number of airstrikes in Gaza.

9:04 a.m.

Paramedics have been treating 39 people who were lightly injured since morning as a result of the security escalation.

Two of the wounded were hit by shrapnel, 20 were wounded on the way to the protected area and 17 were treated for shock

8:08 a.m.

The Israeli military says it has carried out a number of airstrikes in Gaza, bombing a series of Islamic Jihad targets.

It said the strikes hit a training camp and underground weapons manufacturing and storage sites.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says a 25-year-old Palestinian has been killed in the ongoing airstrikes. It was not immediately clear whether he was a militant.

In all, four Palestinians have been killed in Tuesday’s fighting, the worst bout in recent months.

It was sparked when Israel killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander and his wife in a pre-dawn airstrike in Gaza.

7:45 a.m.

Israel’s military has ordered residents across much of the country to stay indoors and avoid large gatherings for the rest of the day.

The instructions issued on Tuesday indicate that the military expects heavy rocket fire out of Gaza to continue for some time.

People were told to stay indoors until Wednesday in the announcement.

The military’s Home Front Command also canceled school and university studies and “non-essential” jobs throughout southern Israel. It limited public gatherings to no more than 100 people in closed spaces.

It canceled classes and limited public gatherings to 300 people in the Tel Aviv area, which is farther from the Gaza border. It said non-essential work could continue but only if near a bomb shelter.

Gaza militants have fired dozens of rockets into Israel following the death of an Islamic Jihad leader in an Israeli airstrike.

07:30 a.m.

The European Union is condemning the barrage of rocket attacks reaching deep into Israel after Israeli airstrikes targeted senior Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza and Syria.

The 28-nation bloc said in a statement that “the firing of rockets on civilian populations is totally unacceptable and must immediately stop.”

In eastern Gaza, the Israeli strike killed Bahaa Abu el-Atta and his wife and, as a result, Islamic Jihad vowed revenge.

The EU called for “a rapid and complete de-escalation” and stressed that it “is now necessary to safeguard the lives and security of Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”