Israeli tanks strike Gaza after rocket fired

Israeli tanks fired shells at a Hamas position in the Gaza Strip after a rocket was launched on southern Israel overnight, according to reports and an Israeli army spokesperson.

An Israeli military statement said its overnight strike, reportedly on a site near Beit Hanoun belonging to Hamas's military wing, had targeted "terrorist infrastructure".

Ministry of Health spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said nobody was wounded.

The rocket launched from Gaza landed in an open area in southern Israel's Shaar Ha Negev regional council. The incident triggered warning sirens, but did not cause any damage, according to an Israeli military statement.

No group has claimed responsibility for the rocket, Palestinian news agency Maan reported.

Israeli officials reportedly prevented a weekly trip that 200 elderly Gazans take to visit Al-Aqsa Mosque and also closed the Erez crossing as a result of the incident.

Last summer, Israel launched an offensive on Gaza which officials claimed was aimed at stamping out cross-border rocket fire.

The 50-day conflict killed more than 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.

An estimated 100,000 Gazan residents remain displaced as a result of the destruction of housing and infrastructure, Maan reported.

In December, Israeli warplanes struck the strip for the first time since a 26 August ceasefire went into effect, after a rocket hit Israel. There were no casualties on either side.