Israeli F-16 warplanes carried out two airstrikes at northern and southern Gaza Strip Saturday night in retaliation to Palestinian rocket attack, witnesses and security sources said.

Witnesses said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a main road in northern Gaza Strip, causing severe damage to the road and smashing windows of nearby houses. No casualty was reported.

Meanwhile, security sources said that F-16 warplanes fired at least one missile at southern Gaza Strip, causing no injury but causing panic among local people.

The airstrikes came after Palestinian militants fired homemade rockets and mortar shells from the Gaza Strip at southern Israeli towns and villages earlier in the day.

Saraya al-Quds, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), claimed responsibility for launching a homemade rocket at the town of Ashkelon in southern Israel.

Source: Xinhua