More than 400 rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilians in less than three days.

GAZA CITY — Israel said Thursday that Hamas is firing a rocket into its territory at a rate of one about every 10 minutes as the total number of reported Palestinian deaths from Israeli airstrikes continues to rise.

Israel’s military arrived at the figure based on its claims that Hamas has fired more than 400 rockets at Israel in less than three days.

That assessment comes as Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault in Gaza for a third day on Thursday, hitting hundreds of Hamas targets as its missile defense system, Iron Dome, once again intercepted rockets.

Military spokesman Peter Lerner said Thursday that Israel struck more than 300 Hamas targets overnight, focusing on underground tunnel networks and rocket launching sites. That brought the total number of targets hit to 750.

The military said it struck a car in Gaza carrying three Islamic Jihad militants involved in firing rockets, raising the Palestinian death toll to at least 81. About half were women and children though the exact breakdown remains unclear, according to Gaza’s health ministry.