A Gazan rocket exploded in the Gan Yavne region, east of Ashdod on Tuesday evening, shattering four weeks of quiet and setting of air raid sirens in the Ashdod and Lakhish regions.
Apart from a 15-year-old girl who was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashdod suffering from a panic attack, the rocket failed to cause injuries, though emergency responders were still assessing on Tuesday whether the projectile had caused any damages.
Tuesday's rocket was the first mid-range rocket attack since the ceasefire went into effect on August 26 following the month and a half long war with Gaza known as Operation Protective Edge.
An army source later said that the IDF "views Hamas as being responsible for everything that occurs in the territory of Gaza." There was no immediate indication about which terrorist group fired the rocket.
On April 24, terrorists in Gaza fired a rocket at the Sderot area, ending four months of quiet and triggering air raid sirens in the area. The projectile exploded in an open, uninhabited area, the IDF said.
In response, the IDF struck a terror target in northern Gaza.
Following that incident, the IDF announced that Gazan worshippers could not go to Jerusalem for Friday prayers at al-Aksa Mosque.
On December 20, Palestinians fired a rocket at a farming area in the Eshkol region, setting off warning sirens and sending residents fleeing for cover. The Israel Air Force responded within hours to that incident, bombing a Hamas base in southern Gaza.