Gaza City — Israeli aircraft hit a Hamas compound in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, after Palestinians there fired a rocket into the Jewish state, the Israeli army said.

"In response to the projectile fired at southern Israel... fighter jets struck a Hamas compound composed of two military structures," the army statement said.

A Palestinian security source said the raid hit a facility of Hamas's military wing west of Rafah in southern Gaza, "without causing injuries."

Israeli army radio said that there were no casualties from Friday night's rocket, which it said fell on open ground in southern Israel.

It was the second exchange in 24 hours, after the air force hit a Hamas position in Gaza early Friday in response to a rocket being fired from the Palestinian enclave the night before.

Such rockets are usually fired not by Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, but by fringe radical groups.

Israel holds Hamas, with which it has fought three wars since 2008, responsible for any fire coming from Gaza. — AFP