Presidential hopefuls Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE and Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBillionaire who donated to Trump in 2016 donates to Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - GOP closes ranks to fill SCOTUS vacancy by November Buttigieg stands in as Pence for Harris's debate practice MORE condemned rocket attacks against Israel as violence escalates with militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

“Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorist threats. It is intolerable that Israeli civilians live their lives under the constant fear of rocket attacks. That's why our administration was such a strong supporter of Israel's life-saving Iron Dome,” former Vice President Biden tweeted Tuesday.

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Israel has a right to defend itself against terrorist threats. It is intolerable that Israeli civilians live their lives under the constant fear of rocket attacks. That's why our administration was such a strong supporter of Israel's life-saving Iron Dome. https://t.co/aQOUdKZqq7 — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 12, 2019

“I strongly condemn the rocket attacks on the citizens of southern and central Israel. Israel has a right to defend itself against acts of terror that set back any progress towards peace and will only serve to inflame the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., added Wednesday.

I strongly condemn the rocket attacks on the citizens of southern and central Israel. Israel has a right to defend itself against acts of terror that set back any progress towards peace and will only serve to inflame the humanitarian situation in Gaza. — Pete Buttigieg (@PeteButtigieg) November 13, 2019

The tweets come as fighting escalates between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Militants in the territory have launched more than 360 rockets into Israel, according to the Israeli military, after Israeli forces killed Islamic Jihad leader Baha abu al-Ata in an early morning raid Tuesday.

1 rocket every 7 minutes.



That's how often Islamic Jihad has been firing rockets into Israel since yesterday morning.



Israel’s Iron Dome intercepted over 90% of the rockets before they could reach Israeli homes. pic.twitter.com/pT0Xw4LqgQ — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 13, 2019

“He initiated, planned and carried out many terrorist attacks. He fired hundreds of rockets at communities in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, whose suffering we have seen. He was in the midst of planning additional attacks in the immediate short term. He was a ticking bomb,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE said Tuesday, referring to al-Ata.

“I would like to reiterate: Israel is not interested in escalation, but will do everything necessary to defend ourselves,” he added.

At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 wounded in retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to Haaretz. The Israeli military has launched a series of counterattacks, saying it has killed 20 militants since Tuesday morning, most of whom belonged to Islamic jihad.

Since 4am Tuesday, we targeted terrorists involved in firing rockets at Israeli civilians. We killed 20 terrorists, most of them from Islamic Jihad.



Our mission is to defend the people of Israel.



We will fulfill this mission relentlessly, as these 9 terrorists have learned pic.twitter.com/UkLE8RvclR — Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 13, 2019

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock Steve BullockCourt removes Pendley from role as public lands chief On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight MORE and Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet Michael Farrand BennetOVERNIGHT ENERGY: House Democrats tee up vote on climate-focused energy bill next week | EPA reappoints controversial leader to air quality advisory committee | Coronavirus creates delay in Pentagon research for alternative to 'forever chemicals' Senate Democrats demand White House fire controversial head of public lands agency Next crisis, keep people working and give them raises MORE, two other Democratic White House candidates, also condemned the rocket launches.

I stand with Israel as terrorists backed by Iran fire rockets targeting innocent civilians.



I support Israel's right to defend its citizens from these heinous and cowardly attacks. — Steve Bullock (@GovernorBullock) November 13, 2019

Rocket attacks against innocent civilians are unacceptable. Israel has the right to self-defense against attacks by terror groups inside Gaza. De-escalation is the only path forward to peace and stability. https://t.co/OqOGK03wGQ — Michael Bennet (@MichaelBennet) November 13, 2019

Israel has faced criticism over its counterstrikes, however, with detractors saying it uses disproportionate force in its response.

"There is great imbalance in force used by the IDF and the casualties faced by Palestinians," tweeted the progressive group IfNotNow. "Only in Gaza are civilians killed and wounded in these numbers. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians should live in fear of violence but this context cannot be ignored."