Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets towards southern Israel Wednesday evening while the Israeli military carried out an operation called "Pillar of Defense" in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said it intercepted 13 rockets, most of which were Grad missiles making their way to the city of Be'er Sheva.

At least six rockets landed near Be'er Sheva, one of which caused damages to a mini-shopping mall in the city center. No injuries were reported.

According to a report by the Israeli Channel 2 news, a rocket was fired for the first time towards the southeast of Be'er Sheva' s Dimona, home to Israel's nuclear reactor.

In addition, two rockets have exploded in the Eshkol region in open territories, and a siren was heard in the city of Ashdod.

The IDF said in its official statement on Wednesday evening that over 12,000 rockets hit Israel in the past 12 years, 768 of them in the past year.

The Home Command Office ordered citizens within 40-km range of the Gaza Strip to stay indoors and nearby shelters and follow authorities' directives. School will be suspended in the southern communities until further notice.

The barrages were launched amid the Israeli military "Operation Pillar of Defense" against Gaza, which commenced Wednesday afternoon, as the Israeli Air Force (IAF) raided targets in the strip and killed chief of the Hamas' military wing Ahmed al- Jaabari and his son.

As of late Wednesday evening, the IAF is still raiding the strip and focusing on militant officials and caches of long-range missiles which could target the center of Israel.

In addition, military officials confirmed on Wednesday evening that battalions are in stand-by mode near the Gaza border in case a decision is made to invade the strip by ground forces.

At a press conference held in the Tel Aviv, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the military is ready to do "whatever it takes" to reach its goals to weaken the militant infrastructure in Gaza and restore calm in southern Israel.