Palestinians on Wednesday morning fired three Grad rockets from the Gaza strip toward the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. Two of the rockets landed in fields near the city while the third fell in the nearby Hof Ashkelon region.

No injuries or damage were reported.

It was the first time rockets were fired into Israel since April 29, while Israelis were celebrating the holiday of Lag B’Omer.

In response, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories ordered the closure to commercial traffic of the Kerem Shalom crossing with the Gaza Strip.

[mappress mapid=”4038″]

In November 2012 the IDF launched Operation Pillar of Defense in order to curb persistent rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Over the course of eight days, some 1,500 airstrikes were carried out against terrorist installations and other targtets.

Six Israelis and 167 Palestinians were killed during the operation.

According to Israeli figures, since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense in November, some 20 rockets or mortar shells have been fired into Israel, compared to about 150 over the same period during 2011 and 2012.

On Monday, a senior Arab source told The Times of Israel that Hamas had deployed a 600-man military force in the Gaza Strip that operates 24 hours a day to prevent rocket fire at Israel.