The development appeared to confirm fears that the conflict would continue to escalate.
"We will not tolerate rocket fire and we are prepared to expand the operation and to exact a heavy toll on Hamas," he said.
Militants have fired more than 100 rockets at Israel since Monday night, the Israeli military said on Twitter on Tuesday.
Overnight, Israel ramped up its airstrikes on Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli military's Operation Protective Edge against Hamas has entered a "substantial phase," with airstrikes hitting around 50 targets, including militant houses and military compounds, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN.
"We are determined to restore a state of security," he said.
Hamas security sources reported at least 60 Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, including from F-16s, Apache helicopters and drones. At least 24 people were wounded, Palestinian medical sources in Gaza said.
Seven people have been killed in Gaza since Monday afternoon, including five in an airstrike on a vehicle, Palestinian medical sources said. Officials identified at least one as a Hamas militant. The latest deaths bring the total killed in Gaza since Sunday to 15, at least nine of them militants, according to Palestinian officials.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to immediately stop its strikes, warning the operation would drag the region into instability.
Abbas said a truce was needed to "spare the innocent from mass destruction."
The two sides have been trading fire over Gaza's border with southern Israel as tensions spiral upward in the region.
The Israeli military has already called up several hundred reservists and is planning to recruit many more to strengthen its positions around Gaza "with a view to possible ground maneuvers," Lerner said Tuesday.
During the last offensive on Gaza in November 2012, 30,000 reservists were called up.
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