A rocket was fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight without causing casualties or damage, the military said on Friday.

The projectile "exploded just before midnight in the Eshkol area" in the Negev desert, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military said.

Tensions have been rising in past weeks, with Palestinian resistance fighters inside the Islamist Hamas-run enclave firing a series of rockets at Israel and the Israeli military retaliating with air raids.

The renewed tensions come two years after Israel launched its devastating "Operation Cast Lead" offensive against Gaza in response to rocket and mortar fire.

The war, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 13 Israelis.

(edited by Ahram Online)