Israeli warplanes attacked areas in the southern and northern Gaza Strip on Saturday and Sunday, killing ten Palestinians and injuring several others.

One Palestinian was killed and another injured in an Israeli airstrike on the city of Rafah on Sunday.

According to the Israeli military, in an airstrike on Saturday, Israel killed nine members of Islamic Jihad who had fired rockets toward Ashdod three days before.

Palestinian sources said the Israeli airstrikes targeted a training center of Islamic Jihad and killed Ahmed Sheikh Khalil, a technical engineer of the resistance group, and eight other Islamic Jihad members.

In retaliation, Islamic Jihad fired two Grad rockets from the Gaza Strip at two Israeli towns.

Funerals were held on Sunday for the Islamic Jihad members killed in Saturday’s attack.

Over the past few months, Tel Aviv has stepped up its attacks on the besieged coastal strip, killing scores of Palestinian people and injuring many more.

The Israeli military frequently attacks the Gaza Strip, saying the actions are being conducted for defensive purposes. However, disproportionate force is always used, in violation of international law, and civilians are often killed or injured.

Gaza has been blockaded since 2007, a situation which has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

After Israel’s assault on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters on May 31, 2010, in which nine civilians were killed, Tel Aviv slightly eased the land blockade of Gaza, allowing in more consumer goods.

However, the naval siege of the Gaza Strip remains in place, exports are banned, and imports of raw materials and construction materials are restricted.

(Press TV)