JERUSALEM, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Israel launched on Tuesday a series of air attacks, targeting Palestinian Islamic Jihad sites in the Gaza Strip amid escalation sparked by the killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza.

Israeli army was carrying out airstrikes attacking Islamic Jihad targets across the Gaza Strip, said an Israeli military spokesperson in a statement.

The strikes came after the group fired dozens of rockets at central and southern Israel. At least 14 people were injured while running to seek shelter, Israeli health officials said.

Earlier, Israeli forces killed Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior commander with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, in a predawn attack on his home in the Shejaiya district in Gaza city.

The strike also killed his wife and injured at least three more people.

Later, an Israeli drone targeted two Islamic Jihad operatives, killing one of them and injuring the other.

The two were affiliated with a rocket launching unit and "posed an immediate threat," the army said.