Tel Aviv: One person has died and seven more have been injured as a result of a direct missile hit to a building in the Israeli city of Rehovot, 17 miles south of Tel Aviv, Israel’s national emergency medical service (Magen David Adom, MDA) said on Thursday.

"A direct hit in a residential building in Rehovot. There are eight casualties in the incident: one is dead, four are in a state of moderate severity, one is slightly injured and two are in a state of shock. MDA paramedics stated the death of a person who received multiple injuries and sent five injured to the Kaplan Hospital," MDA tweeted.

Earlier in the day, air raid sirens were repeatedly heard in a number of cities in southern Israel.

On Thursday, militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an Islamist paramilitary movement in the Gaza Strip, intensified missile strikes against Israel after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed several commanders of the movement. They were responsible for rocket attacks against Israel, according to the IDF.

On Tuesday night, Israel launched "Operation Shield and Arrow," conducting airstrikes against militants in the Gaza Strip and their infrastructure, including rocket launchers and mortars. In response, militants of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired 469 rockets at Israel on Wednesday, according to the IDF.

On Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip killed 25 and injured 76 people.

(With UNI inputs)