Rockets hit Sderot, Gaza border homes amid barrage on Israel's South, West Bank

A home in Sderot suffered a direct rocket hit following a heavy Islamic Jihad barrage from the Gaza Strip, the southern Israeli city's municipality confirmed on Friday.

No one was injured in the hit, the Sderot Municipality said, adding that infrastructural damage was caused to the home.

A rocket also landed on the rooftop of an empty home in the Gaza border kibbutz of Nir Am, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council said. Damage was caused to the home. 

Rockets were also simultaneously launched toward Jerusalem and the West Bank area for the first time in Operation Shield and Arrow, which entered its fourth day on Friday.

A rocket fell near the Gush Etzion settlement of Bat Ayin, according to preliminary Israeli reports.

The Gush Etzion Regional Council opened an emergency hotline on Friday for residents in need of assistance or information following the rocket. barrage on the area.

Shlomo Neeman, Gush Etzion Regional Council Mayor, and Chairman of the Yesha Council responded to the attack:

"The sirens and rockets have reached us as well. I ask that our residents follow the instructions given by the IDF Home Front Command," Shlomo Ne'eman, Yesha council chairman, said. "I would also like to show our support for our security forces, the IDF, and encourage the political echelon to continue fighting against the criminal terrorist organizations who have turned Gaza into a hornet's nest of terror."

IDF strikes Islamic Jihad outposts, rocket launch sites in Gaza

The IDF struck Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) outposts and rocket launch sites in airstrikes carried out over the Gaza Strip early on Friday morning, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit confirmed. 

The IDF has attacked at least 215 Islamic Jihad targets across Gaza since the operation began with the targeted assassinations of three PIJ senior leaders on Tuesday morning.

Netanyahu: Operation will continue for as long as necessary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a security assessment late on Thursday night after it was confirmed that a rocket inflicted a direct hit on a Rehovot apartment building, killing one person and injuring eight.

The Israeli military will continue its operation in Gaza for "as long as necessary," Netanyahu said in comments issued following the situational assessment. Netanyahu instructed security forces to "continue to exact a heavy price from the Islamic Jihad for its aggression against the citizens of Israel."

This is a developing story.