Hamas fires rocket at Israel's second airport near Eilat

Hamas on Thursday said it fired a large rocket at Israel's Ramon airport near Eilat, where incoming passenger flights were diverted after waves of rocket launches towards the main airport near Tel Aviv.

A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing announced the launch of the 250 kilogram (550 pound) rocket and demanded that "all international airlines immediately halt their flights to any airports" in the state.

Hamas has fired over 1,600 rockets towards Israel since Monday, with the Israel military saying it struck Gaza targets over 600 times.

Earlier Thursday, Israel's civil aviation authority said it had diverted all incoming passenger flights headed for Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport to Ramon airport, as air raid warnings once more went off across Israel.

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International carriers were meanwhile cancelling flights to Israel.

Spokespeople for United Airlines and American Airlines told AFP their flights from the US to Israel had been cancelled "through May 15".

In Gaza, 83 people, including 17 children and seven women were reported killed since Monday, with seven killed on the Israeli side.

A further 487 have been wounded.

Tensions rose further after assaults on worshippers at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, when hundreds of Palestinians were injured during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.