At least 198 people were killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave, following a barrage of rockets fired into Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, to which Israel responded with air strikes, Reuters reported.

The ministry said up until 4:20 pm (1320 GMT) there were “198 martyrs and 1,610 wounded with different injuries” in the conflict.

Earlier in the day, Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday, killing more than 2, killing at least 40 people in a surprise assault that combined gunmen penetrating into Israeli towns with a barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.