Israel targets 100 'terror' sites in Gaza; UN calls for 'maximum restraint' An emergency session of the U.N. Security Council was called over the attacks The message is "the violence has to stop," the president of the Security Council says Israel targeted 100 "rocket launch and infrastructure sites" in Gaza, authorities say Three people were killed when a rocket struck building in southern Israel, police say (CNN) -- Israel continued a blistering assault early Thursday against Gaza, targeting what it described as 100 terror sites in response to ongoing rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, a move that has raised fears of the possibility of a wider regional conflict. The countering Israeli and Palestinian attacks prompted the U.N. Security Council to call an emergency closed door session late Wednesday in an attempt to de-escalate the crisis. "In short, the message that must resonate from this meeting is 'the violence has to stop,'" Hardeep Singh Puri, president of the Security Council for the month of November, told reporters. International diplomats hope to stave off a repeat of Israel's 2008 strike that saw its forces go into Gaza after a similar spate of rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. Even as the Security Council's member nations late Wednesday called for "maximum restraint so the situation does not deteriorate any further," Israeli and Palestinian officials reported countering airstrikes and assaults during the early morning hours. The Israel Defense Force said overnight it targeted "100 medium and long range rocket launch and infrastructure sites across the Gaza Strip," according to a statement released Thursday morning. That followed reports of more than 40 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, according to CNN's Sara Sidner, who is reporting near the border. At least 13 rockets were fired in quick succession, "and you can see the trail of smoke," she said. That's in addition to the 35 rockets reportedly fired overnight at Israel, which caused an undetermined number of casualties, she said At least three people were killed when a rocket struck an apartment building in Kiryat Malakhi, according to Israeli police. The latest round of countering strikes follows claims by Palestinian military groups of more than 75 strikes by Israeli warplanes and ships on Wednesday. The strikes Wednesday killed the chief of the al-Qassam Brigade, Hamas' military arm, and at least eight others, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials, an attack that saw al-Qassam threaten the Israel Defense Force on its Twitter feed. It wrote: "@idfspokesperson Our blessed hands will reach your leaders and soldiers wherever they are (You Opened Hell Gates on Yourselves)." Ahmed al-Ja'abari, the popular and influential head of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigade, was killed when the car he was riding in was targeted by an Israeli strike, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, said the killing amounted to an assassination. "We condemn the killing of any Palestinian, regardless of their political affiliation," he said. Assassination is illegal from the point of view of international law, and Israel is committing a crime through the assassination of Palestinian individuals and Palestinian leaders. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said, al-Ja'abari headed "a terror military machine." It is unclear what, if any, impact the Security Council's call for restraint will have after six days of attacks and counter attacks that have seen militant groups fire rockets into southern Israel that in turm prompt Israeli retaliatory strikes. The Israeli and Palestinian representatives at the United Nations traded blame, with Israel's representative dismissing claims by Mansour that the attacks were timed to derail a November 29 vote on a Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations. This all started by an anti-tank missile that was launched against an Israeli jeep. From who? From Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, that has turned Gaza into a dump of ammunition coming in from weapons from Iran, from Libya, from Sudan that have been launched against Israeli civilians day in and day out," Ron Prosor, Israel's representative to the United Nations, told reporters. This is unacceptable. Every state, every nation, every government has a right to defend its cities. We will not allow that to continue. Any distortion of that sequence of events or facts will not only not lead to peace in the region but on the contrary will lead to additional violence. CNN's Saad Abedine and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report