More rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel this morning after Israel launched an air strike on Gaza on Tuesday in response to a Hamas mortar attack.

Sirens sounded in Sderot at 7.33am this morning and two rockets exploded. They hit open ground and no one was hurt, Ynet reported.

The attack followed the first Israeli air strike on Gaza since the ceasefire in November. An Israeli military statement said their planes targeted "two extensive terror sites" and had "accurate hits". Palestinian officials said nobody was hurt.

The air raids were in response to rocket fire from Gaza on Tuesday. Israeli defence minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement: "We will not in any way allow a routine of rocket fire steadily dripping on our civilians and soldiers.”

This marks the worst outbreak of hostilities since the November ceasefire and the first exchange of fire since President Barack Obama’s visit two weeks ago.

Responsibility for the original rockets was claimed by al-Qaeda linked group Magles Shoura al-Mujahadeen, Reuters reported. The group claimed they were responding to the death that day of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail who, it was claimed, had not received sufficient medical treatment for cancer. Israeli officials denied the allegation.