(AFP) – Aug 20, 2008

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel kept all crossings into the Gaza Strip closed on Wednesday after a rocket was fired from the territory in violation of a two-month old truce with Palestinian militants, the army said.

"The crossings will be closed today, and tomorrow the situation will be reassessed. The crossings may be reopened tomorrow depending on the situation," Major Peter Lerner, a military spokesman, told AFP.

A makeshift rocket launched on Tuesday hit a field in southern Israel without causing any casualties or damage but violating an Egyptian-brokered truce that has largely halted the violence in and around the territory.

Gaza militants have launched 44 rockets and mortar rounds since the truce took effect on June 19 but the Islamist Hamas movement which rules Gaza has condemned the violations and vowed to arrest fighters who break the truce.

Israel has sealed Gaza off to all but limited humanitarian goods since Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007 after routing forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

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