A barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are seen in the sky of southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on May 10, 2023. The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets into Israel on Wednesday.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

An Iron Dome missile intercepts a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip over Ashkelon, southern Israel, on May 10, 2023. The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets to southern and central Israel on Wednesday, in response to the surprising Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday predawn, which killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing in the Gaza Strip and their wives and children.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

A barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are seen in the sky over Gaza City, on May 10, 2023. The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets to southern and central Israel on Wednesday, in response to the surprising Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday predawn, which killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing in the Gaza Strip and their wives and children. (Photo: Xinhua)

 

A barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel are seen in the sky over Gaza City, on May 10, 2023. The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets to southern and central Israel on Wednesday, in response to the surprising Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday predawn, which killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement's armed wing in the Gaza Strip and their wives and children.(Photo: Xinhua)

 
The Gaza-based joint chamber of military operations of Palestinian factions claimed firing a barrage of rockets into Israel on Wednesday.

Palestinian security sources and witnesses told Xinhua that more than 20 rockets were fired, while explosions were heard near the border wall separating Israel and Gaza.

The Gaza-based chamber comprising armed factions operating in the enclave, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), claimed responsibility for the rocket firing.

Israeli television showed footage of rockets being intercepted by the country's air defense systems, while emergency services said no casualties were reported so far during the afternoon attack.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement posted on Twitter that dozens of rockets were being fired by Palestinian militants into southern and central Israel, including the financial capital of Tel Aviv and its outskirts.

The rocket attacks came immediately after a fresh Israeli airstrike earlier in the day killed a Palestinian and critically wounded another outside the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Palestinian medics and Israeli sources said.

Over the past two days, the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have claimed the lives of 17 Palestinians, including civilians, said the Gaza-based Health Ministry. The PIJ, who lost three senior officers in Tuesday's attacks, vowed a retaliatory response.