A rocket fired by Palestinian militants has hit a house in the largest city in southern Israel, Israel's military says, prompting Israeli air strikes that medics say killed at least one person in the Gaza Strip.
The attacks came as Egyptian mediators try to negotiate a long-term ceasefire after months of violence along Gaza's border with Israel.
The rocket severely damaged the house in Beersheba before dawn, the military said.
The family living there managed to take shelter in a reinforced room after alert sirens sounded, said officials in the city about 40km from the Gaza Strip.
Another rocket launched from Gaza and aimed at central Israel fell into the Mediterranean Sea, the military said.
Israel's military said it then struck armed training camps in Gaza, which is run by the Hamas Islamist group, and also targeted a squad about to launch a rocket.
Health officials in Gaza said at least one Palestinian was killed and five wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Beersheba attack, and in an unusual statement - with a nod to Egypt's truce efforts - Hamas and other militant groups condemned the rocket strike.
In a joint statement, Hamas and the other groups said they "reject all irresponsible attempts to sabotage the Egyptian effort, including the firing of the rockets" on Wednesday.
The factions did not specify who they believe might have launched them.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the rockets fired at Beersheba and central Israel, were mid-range and produced in Gaza.
"Only two organisations have these specific rockets - Hamas and Islamic Jihad - which very much narrows it down as to who is behind it," he said in a telephone briefing to journalists.
Palestinians have been protesting along the border since March 30, demanding an end to an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the narrow coastal strip, and the right to return to lands that Palestinians fled or were driven from upon Israel's founding in 1948.
Around 200 Gazans have been killed by Israeli troops since the border protests began, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.
Australian Associated Press
