Gaza City, Dec 25 (AP) The Israeli military said Friday that Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets toward southern Israel.

The rockets were aimed at the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, but air defenses intercepted them, the military said. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Volleys of missiles from the Iron Dome defense system illuminated the sky in northern Gaza Strip as they exploded trying to hit the incoming rockets.

No Palestinian group in the Hamas-ruled Gaza claimed responsibility for the rocket fire, which broke months of cross-border calm.

Rocket attacks and Israeli retaliatory artillery and aerial strikes are frequent, but they have largely been subdued in recent months due to the raging coronavirus outbreak in both territories.

The militant Hamas group, which has ruled Gaza since 2007 and fought three wars with Israel and countless rounds of smaller skirmishes, maintains an unofficial cease-fire with Israel.

Hamas charges that Israel doesn't honour its truce obligations, which include easing a crippling blockade on the Palestinian enclave, and allowing for large-scale infrastructure and job-creation projects. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)