The Israeli military said early Monday that it struck Palestinian militant targets in Gaza and Syria in response to rockets fired toward southern Israel on Sunday evening, hours after Israel said it killed a Palestinian militant who tried to place a bomb along the Israel-Gaza barrier fence.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility for the rocket barrages. It also claimed the militant who got killed was among their ranks but did not disclose what he was doing near the fence. 

The Israeli military reported air raid sirens throughout southern Israel and said at least 20 rockets had been fired. There were no reports of damage or injuries on the Israeli side, but it was the heaviest barrage of rockets from the Gaza Strip in several months. Air raid sirens continued into the evening, and Israel's Home Front Command ordered the suspension of classes in Israeli schools in southern Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip on Monday and prohibited large gatherings.

In a statement, the Israeli military said soldiers opened fire at two Palestinians placing an explosive device next to the fence in the Hamas Islamist-run enclave. It said one of the men was killed and a military bulldozer removed his body.

Witnesses and health officials said two other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire directed at a group of people who had approached the area and tried to recover the body.

Video footage shot by a Gaza photographer and posted on social media showed what appeared to be a lifeless figure dangling from the mechanical arm of the bulldozer, which was escorted by an Israeli tank.

The images caused an uproar in Gaza, with many on social media calling for retaliation. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, condemned "the brutal abuse of the body and its abduction."

It also sparked criticism of Hamas on social media, with people accusing the group of appearing weak and allowing Israel to operate with impunity inside Gaza's territory. One image on social media showed a picture of Jesus draped with a Palestinian flag hanging off the front of a bulldozer.

(With input from Reuters, AP)