Casualties and hits in Israel's 'Pillar of Defense' operation by the numbers

JERUSALEM – In the second day of Israel's operation "Pillar of Defense," here's a look at causalities, and the number of hits by both sides:

— Militants in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killed three Israeli civilians on Thursday in a rocket attack on a residential area. The attack is likely to deepen a bruising Israeli air, naval and artillery offensive, the most intense assault on the Palestinian territory in four years. Israel says the campaign is aimed at stopping the frequent Palestinian rocket attacks that have about 1 million Israelis in their range.

— The Israeli military has killed 19 Palestinians, both militants and civilians, in Gaza since the operation started Wednesday.

— The Israeli military says it has hit more than 340 targets since the offensive began.

— It also says Gaza militants fired around 450 rockets at Israel since the start of the operation. Three rockets targeted the densely populated Tel Aviv area, a brazen step that threatened to trigger an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.

— Israel says its Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted about 130 of those rockets.