Officials: Gaza rockets hit southern Israel

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel overnight without causing casualties or damage, a police spokeswoman told AFP on Friday.

“Two rockets fell into uninhabited areas of the Eshkol region,” said Louba Samri.

No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

The Gaza-Israel border has been largely quiet since November when an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire ended a deadly eight-day confrontation between the Jewish state and the Islamist movement Hamas ruling the territory.

But since late February, there have been more than four other cases of rocket fire on Israel, including ones claimed by hardline Salafist fighters to which Israel has responded with air strikes on Gaza.

On April 8 the Israeli army closed the Kerem Shalom goods crossing into the Gaza Strip, a day after a rocket was fired from the besieged enclave and hit an uninhabited area of Israel's southern Negev desert.

That attack came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry started a visit for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Two rockets fired on Wednesday at Israel's Red Sea resort of Eilat were claimed by a Salafist group.

Israel said Wednesday's rockets, which caused no casualties, were fired from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula but there was no confirmation from Cairo.

Rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel during a visit to the region by U.S. President Barack Obama in March.