Tel Aviv  - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a missile at southern Israel Sunday morning, causing no injuries but damaging several vehicles, including one which went up in flames, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The rocket came as Egypt continued to try and broker a long-term ceasefire deal between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement, which administers the Gaza Strip.

Israel and the Palestinian militias in the Strip separately announced ceasefires in January 18, to end a three-week-long Israel offensive directed against militants in the salient, prompted by rocket barrages on southern Israel.

Despite the ceasefire announcements, militants have sporadically fired rockets at Israel, which has responded with airstrikes on rocket launching squads and on tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border used to smuggle in weapons. dpa