WARNING, GRAPHIC- Palestinian Militants Parade Around With A Nearly Naked, Dead Israeli Woman In The Back Of Their Truck

TEL AVIV, Israel — In a surprise attack unprecedented in its scale, Gaza militants infiltrated Israel in several locations on Saturday and fired heavy barrages of rockets at central and southern Israel. There are reports of multiple Israeli casualties, including one woman killed by rocket fire in southern Israel.

Israeli media are reporting on scenes of Gaza militants driving into Israel on trucks and carrying out firefights inside Israeli communities. Israeli police have ordered residents of southern Israel to remain in their homes.

The Israeli military declared a "state of war alert" and said it has carried out strikes on neighboring Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to convene his security cabinet.

In one video uploaded to social media, a cheering truckload of Palestinians parade around the dead body of the Israeli woman killed in the attack.

In a statement, top Hamas militant commander Mohammed Deif called for a regional war. He said the attacks were in response to Israeli "desecration" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, a reference to Jewish religious ultranationalists who visited the holy site, also revered in Judaism as the Temple Mount, this week during a Jewish holiday.