The Israel Defense Forces have begun retaliating to rocket fire from Gaza, launching a series of airstrikes late Friday for the first time in a year.

The attacks killed a Hamas commander, and wounded thirteen people, several of them seriously.

The airstrikes were in response to a rocket attack on the town of Ashkelon earlier on Friday. There were no injuries although parked cars and windows in a nearby apartment building were damaged in that attack.

The first airstrike by Israel destroyed a runway near the compound of the late Yasser Arafat. The airstrip and compound are now occupied by Hamas, the elected authority in Gaza.

Ashkelon is located around 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the Gaza border.

Its population of 125,000 has been targeted by rocket fire in the past, although no fatalities have been recorded.