The Israeli military says it has carried out an airstrike in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket launched from the coastal area into southern Israel late Wednesday night. The rocket landed in an open area near the city of Ashkelon.

A passerby was lightly hurt in the Gaza Strip, according to residents. No damage or injuries were reported in Israel.

"Overnight, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip, targeting civilians in southern Israel," Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said in a statement. "In response to this attack, Israeli Air Force targeted terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip."

Rocket sirens sounded in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, north of the Gaza Strip, and residents reported hearing an explosion. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) reported identifying a launch from the Strip into the area.

Hamas security forces said the Israeli strikes targeted a training center of the Islamic movement's military wing at El Bureij refugee camp, in the middle of the Strip, and a "communications center" in its northern part.

Rocket strikes have become an almost weekly occurrence recently but no militant group took immediate responsibility for the attack.

"The repeated rocket fire at Israel ... is a deliberate decision to target civilians. No person should live under the threat of terrorism," the military statement said.

During last summer's war between Israel and the Hamas group in Gaza, more than 2,200 Palestinians and 73 people on the Israeli side, were killed.

dr/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)