Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned home from Washington on Tuesday, heading straight into military consultations after a night of heavy fire as Israeli aircraft bombed Gaza targets and Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into Israel.

Schools in southern Israel were cancelled following the violence that threatened to escalate into a major conflict just two weeks before the Israeli elections. The fighting subsided by morning, but the situation remained tense.

Israeli troops massed on the Gaza frontier and imposed restrictions on civilian public gatherings after dozens of rockets were fired toward communities in the area, including one that struck a house in the town of Sderot.

Overnight, the Israeli air force pounded terror sites of Gaza’s Hamas rulers and the smaller Islamic Jihad group. The targets included a multistory building in Gaza City that Israel said had served as a Hamas intelligence headquarters and the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Gaza’s Health Ministry said seven Palestinians were wounded in the airstrikes.

Netanyahu, back from Washington, headed directly to military headquarters in Tel Aviv for consultations on the next steps. He faces the difficult task of delivering a tough blow to Hamas while avoiding protracted fighting that could work against him on election day.

Netanyahu has come under heavy criticism from both allies and opponents for what they say has been an ineffective policy of containing Gaza terrorists, with calls demanding he deliver a devastating blow to Hamas. He has conducted indirect cease-fire talks through Egyptian mediators in recent months, and even allowed the delivery of millions of dollars of Qatari aid to Hamas to ease harsh conditions in the territory, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since Hamas seized power in 2007.

After a meeting with President Donald Trump and before leaving Washington, Netanyahu indicated the election would not deter him from acting.

“We have responded very, very forcefully. Hamas needs to know that we will not hesitate to go in and take all necessary steps — regardless of anything, any date, other than Israel’s security needs,” he said.

The cross-border fighting was triggered by a surprise rocket fired early Monday from Gaza that slammed into a house in central Israel and wounded seven people.

The Israeli military said it was a locally-made rocket with a range of 120 kilometers (75 miles), making it one of the deepest strikes ever carried out by Hamas. The military mobilized two armor and infantry brigades and drafted some reserve forces before striking back at militant sites in Gaza.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers announced later in the day that Egyptian mediators had brokered a cease-fire but the firing continued overnight before calm appeared to return early Tuesday.

The fighting set the stage for the most serious conflict since a war in 2014. But with no fatalities reported on either side yet, and the quiet holding for the moment, it seemed possible the two sides would step back from the brink once again.

Two weeks ago, rockets were fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv, and the Israeli military struck back. Gaza’s Hamas leaders said the rocket fire was accidental and the fighting quickly subsided.

(AP)