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Israel has deployed extra forces along the border with the Gaza Strip amid heightened tensions with the Palestinians, the BBC reported.

Israel says the move is part of its response to mortar and rocket fire from Palestinian militants from Gaza.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel launched air strikes against the territory.

Tensions are high after the murders of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank and the murder of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem.

Ten Palestinians were injured in the Israel Defense Forces bombardment of Gaza, which followed barrages of rockets from the territory into southern Israel.

Sirens were sounded in communities across the south of Israel, sending residents running to bomb shelters. A soldier was reported to have been slightly injured in Eshkol.

It was after an especially intense barrage of rocket fire in which two homes in the southern Israeli town of Sderot were hit, that Israel sent tanks, artillery and ground forces to the Gaza border area early on Thursday, defence officials said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would only act against further rocket attacks.

"We are ready for two options in the south. If fire toward our towns in the south ceases, then so shall our actions. The second option is that if fire toward our residents in the south continues, then our bolstered forces there will act forcefully," he said.

A spokesman for the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, which runs Gaza, warned Israel against taking "foolish steps" and promised retaliation for any assault on Gaza.