A rocket fired by militants in Gaza landed in southern Israel early on Monday, in the first incidence of firing since armed Palestinian groups there agreed to observe a truce last week.

The projectile, a home-built Qassam rocket, caused no injuries or damage when it landed in the Shaar HaNegev regional council which flanks Gaza's northeastern border.

Last Wednesday, Gaza's main militant factions agreed to observe a period of calm after weeks of increased rocketfire and rising tensions along the border which prompted a warning from Arab leaders that they were risking a major new Israeli invasion.

Gaza's Hamas rulers said they would ensure the "national consensus" truce was observed and deployed forces along the border zone.
Over the past month, Gaza militants have fired scores of rockets into the Jewish state, prompting a flurry of retaliatory air strikes and raising fears of another massive operation along the lines of the 2008-9 war.

The 22-day conflict, which ended in a ceasefire on January 18, 2009, killed 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers.