Palestinian resistance group Hamas fired hundreds of rockets toward Ashkelon in central Israel in response to the displacement of civilians in Gaza on Tuesday.
Hamas armed wing spokesman Abu Ubaida told residents of the city to leave the area by 5 p.m. (1400 GMT).
The Palestinian death toll has risen to 788 amid Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
A ministry statement said the fatalities included 770 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 18 in the occupied West Bank.
According to the statement, over 4,100 people were injured, including 4,000 in the Israeli bombing in Gaza.
A previous statement by the ministry put the death toll at 765 Palestinians, including at least 143 children and 105 women.
Israel continued its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for the third day on Tuesday, following a multi-front Hamas attack on Israeli towns near the seaside territory. Hamas said the attack was in response to Israeli violations in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem and increased settler violence.
Israel retaliated with a series of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip and imposed a total blockade on the territory, home to nearly 2.3 million people.
The Israeli army said Tuesday it had launched massive airstrikes targeting more than 100 targets in Gaza.
