Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday ordered the closure of Israel's crossings with the Gaza Strip, shortly after Palestinian militants fired a rocket on southern Israel despite a four-month-old truce. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket landed near the city of Sderot but there were no casualties or damage.The closure of the crossing points, through which vital supplies are imported into the Hamas-ruled territory, went into effect on Thursday morning, a statement from Barak's office said. It did not say when the crossing points would reopen.
The June ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Islamist Hamas group has largely held, though Palestinian militants have occasionally fired rockets into Israel. In response, Israel usually temporarily closes its border with the territory. Under the agreement, Hamas agreed to halt rocket attacks in return for the gradual lifting of a blockade that Israel imposed on the Gaza Strip two years ago.