Gaza militants hit Israeli house with rocket

SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - A rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip struck a house in southern Israel on Sunday as cross-border violence escalated after a six-month-old truce expired last week.

No one was injured in the rocket attack in the town of Sderot, which sits about two kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip, but rescue workers said a man was injured in a nearby community by a mortar that hit the field he was working.

An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire reached in June between Israel and Hamas Islamists who control the Gaza Strip came to an end on Friday, though cross-border violence has been increasing for weeks.

An Israeli air strike killed a Gaza militant on Saturday, and an air strike destroyed a rocket launcher in northern Gaza on Sunday.

The Islamic Jihad militant group has claimed responsibility for most of the rocket fire. An Israeli military spokesman said at least 49 rockets and mortars have been fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel since the truce ended.

(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Jon Boyle)