Gaza City, Gaza (CNN) -- A senior Hamas member was killed during Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, Hamas security forces said Saturday.
An airstrike in central Gaza killed Saed Al Bitran, who was responsible for manufacturing weapons, the Hamas forces said.
The Israel Defense Forces said the attack on a weapons-manufacturing site in central Gaza was part of a series of strikes starting late Friday in response to a rocket assault on Ashkelon earlier in the day.
The strikes also targeted two other locations in Gaza: a Hamas "terror-activity site" in the north and a weapons-smuggling tunnel in Rafah, Israeli forces said.
Eight people were injured in the strikes, Hamas security forces reported.
The first strike around 11:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. ET) hit a runway near the compound of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which is now occupied by Hamas, according to a CNN stringer at the scene.
The coastal Israeli city of Ashkelon was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza early Friday, causing minor damage but no injuries, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said.
Ashkelon, with a population of approximately 125,000 residents, is about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the Israel-Gaza border and has been the target of many rockets originating from Gaza -- some wounding residents.
CNN
