Tel Aviv - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the crossing points into the Gaza Strip to be shut Thursday, after militants in the salient fired a Qassam rocket at southern Israel.

The rocket, fired from the north of the strip toward the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, caused neither damage nor injuries, an Israeli military spokesman said.

Militants had also fired a rocket on Thursday, causing Barak to take a similar decision regarding the crossing points.

Despite a truce between Israel and the Gaza militias which went into effect on June 19, militants have sporadically fired rockets at southern Israel.

Israel has responded to each post-truce launch by tightening, for a limited period, its blockade of the strip, first imposed after the Islamic Hamas organization seized control of the enclave's security installations in June 2007. (dpa)