GAZA/JERUSALEM, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least ten Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in a series of Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Civil Defense. The Israeli military stated the strikes were carried out in response to gunfire directed at Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza earlier that day.

Mahmoud Basal, the agency's spokesperson, said the Israeli army carried out multiple strikes from the afternoon onward, with the deadliest strike hitting a building in the Al-Zaytoun district of eastern Gaza City, near the Asqoula junction. Basal said five people, including a woman and a child, were killed. Rescue teams were still searching the rubble for survivors.

He said another strike hit a group of civilians inside the UNRWA Club west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing three people and injuring several others. Civil defense teams moved the wounded to nearby medical points. Basal said the area had been crowded at the time.

In a separate incident, an Israeli drone strike targeted civilians at the Al-Shuja'iyya junction along Salah Al-Din Street in eastern Gaza City. Basal said one person was killed and dozens were wounded. He said rescue teams struggled to reach the site because of continued aerial activity.

He also reported that an Israeli tank shell struck a house belonging to the Bolboul family on Mushtaha Street in Al-Shuja'iyya, killing one person and wounding others. Nearby homes were damaged.

Basal warned the number of dead could rise as rescue crews work through several affected areas. He said the repeated attacks throughout the afternoon and evening have put more pressure on emergency teams operating with limited equipment and dwindling supplies.

Israel said it launched the airstrikes in response to gunfire earlier in the day at troops operating in southern Gaza. It said militants opened fire near Israeli forces in Khan Younis, an area still under Israeli control under a ceasefire that began on Oct. 10. No Israeli soldiers were hurt.

"In response, the IDF began striking Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip," the military said, adding that troops will continue operations to "remove any imminent threat."

At least 280 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the fragile truce, and 672 wounded, the Gaza health authorities said. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict began two years ago, according to the authorities.

Also on Wednesday, the Israeli army said it struck weapons storage sites used by Hezbollah's rocket unit in southern Lebanon. It said the sites violated understandings between Israel and Lebanon and that the military would continue to act against threats. Lebanese authorities also reported several airstrikes on targets in the south. At least one person was killed and 11 others injured in Wednesday's strikes.

The surge in strikes followed an Israeli attack on the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on Tuesday, which killed at least 13 people.

"The IDF is operating against Hamas' presence in Lebanon and will continue to act against Hamas terrorists wherever they are," the military said after Tuesday's strikes. Enditem