Israel launched an airstrike on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip late Thursday night in response to earlier rocket attacks from Lebanon, as tensions following police raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem this week threatened to spiral out of control.

Ground-shaking blasts shook different areas of Gaza, as Israel said its jets hit targets including tunnels and weapons manufacturing sites of Hamas, the Islamist group which controls the blockaded southern coastal strip.

The strikes came in response to rocket attacks from Lebanon towards northern Israeli areas, which Israeli officials blamed on Hamas. The military said 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, of which 25 were intercepted by air defense systems, in the biggest such attack since 2006, when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Hezbollah movement.

"Israel's response, tonight and later, will exact a significant price from our enemies," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a security cabinet meeting.

As the Israeli jets struck in Gaza, salvoes of rockets were fired in response and sirens sounded in Israeli towns and cities in bordering areas.

The cross-border strikes came amid an escalating confrontation over Israeli police raids at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year coincides with the Jewish Passover holiday.

"We hold the Zionist occupation fully responsible for the grave escalation and the flagrant aggression against the Gaza Strip and for the consequences that will bring onto the region," Hamas said in a statement.

Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati issued a statement condemning any military operations from its territory that threatened stability but there was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. Earlier on Thursday, before the rockets were fired, senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said any infringement on Al-Aqsa "will inflame the entire region."

Palestinian security officials said Israeli fighter jets intensively bombed military posts belonging to Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli jets hovered over the Gaza Strip, and the buzz of the fighter jets and several explosions were heard in the north, east and south of the Gaza Strip, they added.

Palestinian medical sources said that no injuries had been reported yet.

(With input from Reuters, Xinhua)