JERUSALEM - The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced Wednesday that it has embarked on a widespread military operation called "Operation Pillar of Defense" in the Gaza Strip.

"The State of Israel has launched an operation against terror targets in the Gaza Strip, which aims to defend the lives of residents of southern Israel," IDF spokesperson Cap. Roni Kaplan told Xinhua Wednesday evening.

"The purpose of this operation is to severely impair the command and control chain of Hamas leadership and its terrorist infrastructure," the IDF spokesman unit said in an official statement.

"The IDF will continue to target sites that are used for carrying out terror attacks against the citizens of Israel while improving our daily security," it further read.

Another military source told Xinhua the Israeli Air Force is focusing on striking storages of Fagr-5 long-range missiles in Gaza.

The Home Front Command ordered citizens of Israeli southern communities to remain close to shelters and listen to instructions by the authorities, as they expect Gaza militants to retaliate with rockets and shelling.

The military operation was launched Wednesday afternoon after the Israeli Air Force raided the car of Hamas military wing chief Ahmed al-Jaabari in Gaza, killing him and his son.

Jaabari was serving at the top of Hamas' command and was involved in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2006.

The conflict between Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip escalated in recent days and came to a relative calm in the past 24 hours.

On Saturday, Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile against an IDF patrol jeep, wounding four soldiers. The Israeli Air Force then carried out several air raids against Palestinian targets in the Gaza, answered by more than 150 rockets and shells targeting Israel's southern communities.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told mayors of Israeli southern cities that it was his responsibility to "choose the right time to exact the heaviest price" for the continual rocket fire from Gaza.