Israelis in the southern city of Sderot took cover Thursday after a rocket was fired from the neighbouring Gaza Strip, the Israeli army said. The rocket landed in an open area and caused no injuries or damages, according to a spokesman with the Shaar Hanegev local council. Israel imposed a blockade of Gaza's maritime and land border, after the militant organisation Hamas seized control in 2007. Hamas and Israel have since fought three wars. A fragile truce has endured in recent years despite occasional flareups, with Palestinians firing rockets at Israel and the Jewish state responding with air strikes on the coastal enclave. This year Israel marked a decade since it deployed the Iron Dome missile defence system that intercepted hundreds of rocket attacks from Gaza and Syria. Gaza's two million residents endure extreme poverty amid the Israeli blockade. Conditions have worsened as Hamas issued lockdown orders to counter the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. dac/hkb