The IDF confirmed on Wednesday morning that it struck a group of terrorists in northern Gaza who were launching rockets at the Yad Mordechai and the Ashkelon Beach Regional Council in southern Israel.

The IDF said it managed to hit the rocket firing squad before they launched the rocket, which set off the Code Red sirens in southern Israel.

Palestinian media reporting that one person has been killed.

Meanwhile, the Sdot Negev Regional Council and the Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel have cancelled school following the escalation.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman ordered on Wednesday morning the closure of the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings and the reduction of fishing space in the Gaza Strip to only 3 nautical miles. The Defense Minister’s decision was made following direct rocket attacks overnight.

Just after 8:30 a.m. rocket alert sirens sounded in Yad Mordechai and the Ashkelon Beach Regional Council in southern Israel.

Residents have reported hearing explosions. The IDF is investigating.

A second rocket was fired at Israel’s central region overnight and landed in the sea. The rocket was the first aimed at the central region since the 2014 Gaza war and was said to have carried a large payload. Another rocket hit a house in Beer Sheva.

The IDF confirmed on Wednesday morning that it had scrambled its fighter jets and struck several “terror targets” across the Gaza Strip following an overnight rocket attack, which hit the southern Israeli town of Beersheba.