GAZA CITY (CNN) -- An attempt at a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza failed Friday, as rocket attacks and air strikes persisted with no immediate end in sight.
The fighting has left 24 dead and 200 wounded, Palestinian officials said. Israeli officials reported no new deaths Friday, saying a total of three have died from rocket fire since fighting broke out.
Gazans got no respite from the ongoing attacks as Egypt's prime minister arrived for a visit. Israel planned a cease-fire for Friday to accommodate him, according to a senior official from the Israeli prime minister's office. But the move was contingent on Gazans also holding their fire. The militant group al-Qassam, Hamas' military arm, rejected the idea.
Air raid sirens went off in Tel Aviv Friday, but officials said rockets fired did not hit land, but possibly landed in the sea.
The military began operation Pillar of Defense on Wednesday in response to a high number of rockets fired at Israel over the past year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said.
"This year alone, they (Hamas) fired over 1,000 rockets and missiles at Israel, including close to 200 rockets in the last 24 hours," he said in a statement Thursday.
Western powers largely blame Hamas for starting the armed altercation but call on Israel to be proportionate in its response.
In Gaza City, recurring bombardments provided for a sleepless night of hearing and feeling explosions of ordnance coming into Gaza from Israel and watching some rockets leaving Gaza for Israel.
Falling bombs made doors clatter and sometimes even one's bones. Clouds of smoke sprouted into the sky, paralleling the thunderous booms.
The bomb clouds in Gaza could be seen from Ashkelon, Israel, in the morning light, and the loud rumble of their explosions could be heard.
The military campaign has hit relevant military targets and stifled the launching of rockets out of Gaza, Israeli authorities said.
Palestinian officials have yet to give a detailed account of damage and death from the night's attacks.
Hamas said that the Israeli air force struck its Interior Ministry, a claim backed up by press photos of fiery rubble where the building once stood and comments retweeted by Israeli spokeswoman Avital Leibovich.
Gazan militants from the Qassam Brigade denied Israeli reports that their attacks had lightened up. They claimed to have hit multiple Israeli targets Friday with Grad and Qassam rockets. Qassam announced it had directed a rocket at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, but Leibovich said no rocket had hit there.
High-level visit from Cairo
As Kandil, the Egyptian prime minister, got a first-hand look at fresh destruction and casualties on a tour with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, fears of a ground invasion by Israel seemed to gain support. The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday they are "recruiting" 16,000 reservists, according to a Twitter post by Leibovich.
The Israeli army has already moved nearly a division's worth of troops -- perhaps 1,500 to 2,000 -- to the border, an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.
Kandil openly showed emotion over the death of a year-old boy. He read a verse out of the Quran in respect to the fallen Palestinians.
His rhetoric toward Israel was diplomatic, though his voice was halting, and he struggled at times to get his words out.
"No one can remain still and watch this tragedy unfold in this fashion," Kandil said. "This is impossible. The whole world must intervene, and Israel must abide by the agreements and stop the aggression."
The armed conflict is likely to further erode Israel's fragile relationship with Egypt, which recalled its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday in protest over the ongoing strikes. It also delivered a formal protest to the Israeli government.
"Egypt will not leave Gaza alone and what is happening there is a blatant aggression against humanity," Egyptian President Mohammed Morsy said.
His Cabinet chief, however, said Egypt's peace treaty with Israel is safe.
"But respecting a peace treaty does not mean to stay idle or indifferent to what is going on along our borders," Mohamed Refa'a al-Tahtawi said.
Since the start of Operation Pillar of Defense, the Israeli Air Force has targeted over 600 sites in Gaza for what it calls terror activity. In addition to airstrikes, the Israeli navy has taken aim at targets along Gaza's shoreline, the IDF said.
Israel said it has called thousands of residents in Gaza to warn them of strikes and dropped leaflets in Gaza warning Palestinian civilians to "avoid being present in the vicinity of Hamas operatives," the IDF said.
It also said it uses "roof knocking" -- targeting a building "with a loud but nonlethal bomb that warns civilians they are in the vicinity of a weapons cache or other target. This method is used to allow all residents to leave the area before the IDF targets the site with live ammunition."
Well over 400
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