Gaza City, November 18 (RHC)-- Israeli fighter jets have reportedly carried out airstrikes against two areas in the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli air raids hit areas in the northern and central parts of the Palestinian enclave late on Tuesday night, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

Israeli sources claimed that the air raids were conducted in response to a rocket attack that had struck the southern part of the Israeli-occupied territories a few hours earlier, blaming the attack on the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty. Israeli authorities deny nearly 1.8 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages and adequate healthcare and education.

Israel's 50-day military aggression against the Gaza Strip, which started in early July and ended late August last year, left nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, dead. Over 11,100 others -- including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people -- were also wounded.