Rocket sirens sounded in southern and central Israel on Friday as Palestinian militants in Gaza responded to Israeli airstrikes which killed at least 10 people, including a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.

As darkness fell, Israeli authorities said sirens had been sounded in southern and central areas, while images broadcast by Israeli television stations appeared to show a number of missiles being shot down by air defence systems. In Tel Aviv, Israel's economic centre, witnesses said they could hear booms but there were no reports of sirens.

Earlier, local health officials in Gaza said at least 10 people, including a five-year old child, had been killed and 55 wounded in the Israeli airstrikes, which came after days of escalating tensions following the arrest of a Palestinian militant leader during the week.

An Israeli spokesperson said the strikes had killed Islamic Jihad commander Tayseer al-Jaabari and around 15 "terrorists" but said the military did not have a final casualty total.

He said plans to allow fuel trucks into Gaza to keep the area's sole power plant operational had been dropped at the last minute as intelligence picked up movements that indicated attacks on Israeli targets were imminent.

The lack of fuel is set to lead to more power cuts in Gaza, where residents already have just 10 hours of electricity a day and further hit the economy of a region that depends on foreign aid and still struggles to recover from past wars.

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