Israel Launches First Air Strike on Gaza Since Truce

Israel has carried out an air strike on the Gaza Strip for the first time since an eight-day war ended in a truce last November.

Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, says aircraft bombed fields near the border and no-one was injured.

The air strike followed a Palestinian rocket attack on Israel on Tuesday which also caused no injuries.

Israel and Hamas have been observing an Egyptian-mediated truce after last November's fighting.

The Israeli military confirmed the air strikes, saying it had targeted "terror sites" and was "in response to rocket fire".

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the air strike was near the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya and came after militants in Gaza fired two mortar shells into the western Negev desert.

Since the truce came into effect, Israel has eased restrictions on allowing building materials into the Gaza Strip, imposed when Hamas came to power there in 2007.