Gaza Strip Conflict: Militants Fire Rocket, Israel Responds With Airstrike, No Casualties: Report

Conflict briefly broke out in the Gaza Strip Tuesday night. Militants fired a rocket at southern Israel and hours later, Israeli fighter jets responded with airstrikes, according to an Israeli military spokesman, reported the Associated Press.

The airstrikes -- carried out early Wednesday morning, local time -- targeted "four terror infrastructures" in the southern Gaza Strip, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told the AP. The rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip hit an open area and no injuries were reported, Lerner said. He appeared to confirm the report in a tweet.

A Hamas official told the AP, under condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak with journalists about the events, that unknown militants fired at least one rocket at Israel. Israeli officials said they held Hamas responsible for the rocket attack, reported NBC news. The AP reported that no Palestinian group had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Palestinian security sources told the AP that the Israeli airstrikes targeted Hamas training sites and Islamic jihad group sites, and also hit open spaces. There have not been any reports of casualties from the airstrikes. The Israeli airstrikes were the first since a ceasefire that ended the 50-day war between Israel and Gaza militants last summer. The summer's fighting resulted in the deaths of more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, NBC reported. Israel said that 67 soldiers and six civilians died in the war.

Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel throughout the years, but the firing has reportedly halted for the most part since the ceasefire. The AP reported that Palestinians have said that Israeli forces have fired at fisherman and farmers. Reports of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in the West Bank surfaced earlier this month. The Israeli military said it used "riot dispersal" techniques, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported, after Palestinian protesters threw objects. Ten protesters were reportedly wounded after Israeli forces fired rubber bullets -- while some witnesses told the AFP that live rounds were fired.