A rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel, the Israeli army said on Friday after sirens blared in the southern city of Sderot and several border communities.

No casualties or property damage was reported, with the rocket apparently falling in an open area near Sha'ar Hanegev in southern Israel.

Palestinian media outlets later reported that the Israeli army struck a Hamas outpost in the Strip in response.

The previous escalation in the south was last February, when more than 50 rockets were fired into Israel in response to the killing of an Islamic Jihad activist in an Israeli strike.

A video that circulated in the Gaza Strip documented an IDF bulldozer dragging the body of the activist, alongside Palestinians confronting the force east of Khan Yunis.

The Iron Dome system intercepted 90 percent of the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, but two of them hit a home and playground in Sderot.

During the escalation, the Israeli Air Force attacked Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip and Syria, and several operatives of the organization were killed in IDF attacks.