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- An Israeli airstrike leveled Palestinian Cabinet headquarters in Gaza, Hamas says
- Israel Defense Forces announced it was mobilizing 30,000 troops on the border
- The Israeli government has authorized the call up of 75,000 troops
- "We are in the process of expanding the campaign," an Israeli general says
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Gaza City (CNN) -- Convoys carrying tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers rolled toward the Gaza border Saturday, raising the specter of an imminent ground invasion after Palestinian militants appeared to raise the stakes by firing rockets at the holy city of Jerusalem.
The mobilization of troops along the Israel-Gaza border follows news Friday that the Israeli government authorized the call up of 75,000 reservists, the latest move by Israel in its days-old military campaign to stop rockets attacks from Gaza.
"We are in the process of expanding the campaign," Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, told Israel's Channel 2.
At least 30,000 Israeli troops were being mobilized along the Israeli-Gaza border late Friday and into early Saturday, according to an IDF statement.
Q&A: Gaza strikes could be beginning of ground attack
World leaders and the United Nations have called on Israeli and Palestinian governing bodies to show restraint, fearing at the very least a possible repeat of Israel's 2008 invasion that left at least 1,400 people dead.
At least 30 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel's military operation, dubbed Pillar of Defense, began Wednesday, according to Palestinian government and health officials. Israel is reporting three deaths from a Hamas rocket attack in the southern community of Kiryat Malachi.
For days, Israel has been using airstrikes to target what it describes as rocket-launching sites operated by Hamas and other militant groups.
On Saturday, Israel stepped up its air campaign, leveling the Palestinian Cabinet headquarters where a day earlier Egypt's prime minister met with Hamas officials, according to Hamas TV.
Israeli strikes also targeted a passport office and a police department building in Gaza City, Hamas TV reported.
From northern Gaza, Mohammed Sulaiman said he could hear bombs intermittently falling from Israeli warplanes as well as, from the other side, rockets periodically whistling toward Israel.
"The situation is totally dangerous here, and it is not safe to be out in the street," Sulaiman said.
iReporter captures wailing sirens warning of rockets in Jerusalem
The IDF said 97 rockets launched from Gaza had hit Israel since midweek, while another 99 were intercepted by its missile defense system.
Among the rockets fired Friday were two that targeted Jerusalem, setting off air raid sirens. The rockets struck an open area south of the city, with Hamas claiming responsibility for firing the rockets toward Jerusalem.
Sirens sounded, too, in Tel Aviv, prompting people to scramble for cover, witnesses said.
No damage was reported, but Israelis consider the attacks on its major population centers to be an escalation, said Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren.
Photos: Deadly attacks in Gaza, Israel
So far, Israeli tank units and troops have stayed outside Gaza. But a senior U.S. administration official familiar with U.S.-Israeli talks in recent days said the United States unequivocally supports Israel's right to self-defense, but the U.S. message is for Israel not to invade Gaza.
"Escalation is what we are concerned about. We don't want it to escalate to the point where Israel feels it has to take additional action, specifically ground force action," the official said.
Chief among U.S. and European concerns is Egypt's possible reaction to an Israeli ground invasion.
"What action would Egypt take? Would they move into the Sinai?" the official said.
While the United States, Britain and Germany have said Hamas bears the brunt of the blame for the current crisis, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy has called Israel's airstrikes "a blatant aggression."
Israeli: 'How would you feel if your children were constantly scared?'
Egypt has strengthened its relations with Hamas following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. On Friday, Morsy sent his prime minister to meet with Hamas officials.
Rejecting the idea of a temporary cease-fire Israel had requested because of the Egyptian prime minister's Gaza visit, the militant group al-Qassam -- the military arm of Hamas -- reported on its Twitter feed that it had fired a Grad missile Friday on the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.
In Ashkelon, about 17 kilometers (10 miles) north of Gaza, local officials said rocket strikes had increased dramatically in recent days. Such attacks are nothing new for residents accustomed to hunkering down in bunker rooms, but the emptiness of the town's marina and streets suggested the uptick had left people on edge.
"It is really frightening," Shiraz Wieselhof said. "I cannot sleep at night."
Watch: Senior Hamas member on strikes in Gaza
Will Twitter war become the new norm?
CNN's Sara Sidner reported from Gaza City; CNN's Fred Pleitgen reported from southern Israel; CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali, Amir Ahmed and Chelsea J. Carter reported from Atlanta; CNN's Jessica Yellin and Joe Vaccarello as well as journalists Per Nyberg and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.
