Gaza, May 16 (IANS): Homes and apartments in the Gaza Strip, including the house of a Hamas leader, were bombed and destroyed as Israel slammed the region with airstrikes.

According to witnesses and local sources, among the targets on Saturday was the house of Yehya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Gaza Strip, reports Xinhua news agency.

There was no more information about the Hamas chief, while informed sources said he wasn't home when the building was bombed.

The house of his brother, Mohammed Sinwar, was also bombed with approximately 15 air raids.

"The Israeli warplanes launched more than 155 air strikes among several areas of Gaza Strip as a reaction of launching batches of new versions of missiles by the Palestinian armed resistance factions towards southern and central Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv," said a civil defense spokesman.

Ambulance and civil defence crews in Gaza were still searching for bodies and survivors under the rubble of the bombed buildings.