A rocket, believed to be fired from Gaza, exploded in southern Israel on Tuesday.

This is the first such attack by militants in the Hamas Islamist ruled Strip since a truce ended fighting in November.

Spokesperson, Micky Rosenfeld said that the rocket caused some damage to a road near the city of Ashkelon but there were no injuries.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility by any militants in Gaza, where Egyptian mediators helped achieve a truce after eight days of punishing Israeli air strikes amid rocket attacks from the coastal territory in late November.

Hamas officials in Gaza refused to comment on the rocket fired from territory under their control.

The attack came after the death on Saturday of a Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody which triggered protests in the occupied West Bank.

In the latest violence there, Israeli troops shot and wounded five Palestinians during confrontations with protesters in the Bethlehem area on Monday and a 15-year-old boy is in critical condition.

The death in disputed circumstances of Arafat Jaradat, buried in a funeral in the Hebron area attended by thousands on Monday, and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates, have stoked tensions ahead of a planned visit next month by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Presented by Adam Justice