The Israeli army said Sunday it closed fishing zone off the Gaza coast and carried out fresh air strikes against Hamas positions in the enclave in response to a rocked fired at Israel's south that landed near a residential home.
The latest punitive measures came after two rockets had been fired into the city of Sderot, with one of them intercepted by the Iron Dome defense system. The other one landed near a residential home and lightly wounded one man, while the house sustained heavy damage.
Two women were treated for shock, while another two hurt themselves while running to the bomb shelter.
"In response, our Air Force just struck Hamas terror targets in Gaza, including a military compound used to store rocket ammunition," it said.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz also ordered to completely close the fishing zone off the Gaza coast after limiting the area last week.
Hamas said in a statement following the IDF strikes that Israel "will bear full responsibility for the consequences of the escalation in the Gaza Strip."
The terror group said the rocket fire was in response to Israel's targeting of the protesters on the border fence. "Israel's deliberate attack on demonstrators in the eastern Gaza Strip and shooting of live ammunition is another crime in a long list being carried out against the Palestinian people."
The army confirmed that clashes broke out Saturday evening along the Gaza-Israeli border.
Dozens of Palestinian "rioters burned tyres, hurled explosive devices and grenades towards the security fence and attempted to approach it," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Over the past week Israeli forces have carried out repeated night-time strikes on targets linked to the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
The army says they are in response to the use of makeshift firebombs, attached to balloons and kites, which have been sent into parts of southern Israel, causing thousands of fires in Israeli farms and communities.
There were 19 such Palestinian attacks on Saturday alone, according to Israeli rescue services.
In response "IDF fighter jets and aircraft struck a number of Hamas military targets in the Gaza Strip," the army said in its statement, adding that among the targets hit were "a military compound and underground infrastructure" belonging to Hamas.
Israel has closed its Kerem Shalom goods crossing with the Gaza Strip and reduced the territory's permitted Mediterranean coastal fishing zone in response to the balloon launches last week.
Despite a truce last year backed by the UN, Egypt and Qatar, the two sides clash sporadically with rockets, mortar fire or incendiary balloons.
Hamas "is responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip and emanating from it, and will bear the consequences for terror activity against Israeli civilians," the IDF said in its statement Saturday.