Gaza rocket strikes southern Israel

A rocket fired by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip slammed into southern Israel Saturday morning, the Israeli army said.

Palestinian security officials said the Israelis responded with tank fire at an observation post of the territory's Hamas rulers, near Beit Lahiya in the north, near the frontier with Israel.

No casualties were reported in either incident.

The Israeli military could not immediately comment on the reported tank fire but earlier released a brief statement on the rocket attack.

"Earlier today, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip and hit an open area," it said. "No casualties have been reported."

Last month, Israeli warplanes and tanks pounded Gaza in response to a similar rocket launch, hitting Hamas military facilities and wounding four Palestinians, none of them seriously.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

Since the last one in 2014, a fragile ceasefire has been observed along the largely closed border.

Missiles and rockets are periodically fired at Israel, generally by hardline Islamist groups opposed to Hamas.

But Israel holds Hamas responsible for all rocket fire from Gaza regardless of who carried it out.