The armed wings of Islamic Hamas movement and Islamic Jihad on Thursday claimed responsibility for firing two Iranian-made Fajr rockets that landed in Jaffa and Rishon Kitzion, south of Israel's Tel Aviv.

The two groups said in two separate leaflets emailed to reporters that their militants fired the rockets in response to the killing of Ahmed al-Jaabari, head of the Hamas armed wing, by Israel on Wednesday.

Israel launched a military operation Wednesday afternoon against targets in the Gaza Strip, starting with an air strike on al-Jaabari's car.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman for the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, told reporters that since Wednesday 15 Palestinians have been killed and at least 140 wounded in Israeli attacks.

Palestinian security sources in Gaza said seven of the dead are civilians, including a pregnant woman, a three-year-old girl, an 11-month-old baby boy and a 65-year-old man, and another eight are Hamas militants, including al-Jaabari.

Hamas and other militant groups said in separate leaflets and SMS messages sent to reporters that their militants have fired more than 250 rockets on various Israeli towns and cities since Wednesday.

They said Israel carried out more than 70 airstrikes on various targets in the coastal enclave.