Israel's military killed a commander from Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a strike on his home in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, triggering exchanges of fire in a violent escalation that left another nine Gazans dead.

The targeted strike prompted a retaliatory barrage of almost 200 rockets fired into Israel, followed by Israeli air raids. Gaza's health ministry reported a total of 10 people killed and more than 40 wounded in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel said its air strikes targeted Islamic Jihad militant sites as well as rocket-launching squads.

The rocket fire into Israel caused damage and a number of injuries, with at least one rocket hitting a house and another narrowly missing passing cars on a highway. A factory in the city of Sderot was also hit, sparking a fire.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019