An Israeli military helicopter targeted a Hamas site in Gaza in response to the launching of a rocket from the Gaza Strip, the first since the escalation in the region in November, the army said.

"An army attack helicopter targeted a Hamas military post in the southern Gaza Strip overnight," the army statement said.

She added that the operation was to respond to what Israeli media reported that a rocket fired at Israel.

In turn, Hamas confirmed that the Israeli helicopter fired two missiles destroyed one of its positions without causing injuries.

The rocket attack from Gaza was the first since an Egyptian-brokered truce announced on November 13 ended the worst escalation between Gaza and Israel since the war in 2014.

During the escalation, hundreds of rockets and missiles were fired into Israel within 48 hours, killing one person and injuring 27. The attack was followed by a special operation by Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip that killed a Hamas leader and six other members of the movement, along with an Israeli officer.

Seven Gaza residents were killed and 26 wounded in Israeli retaliatory air strikes carried out before the truce took effect.

In Khan Younis yesterday, the bodies of the martyr Karam Fayyad, 26, who died during the Friday protests on the border of the Gaza Strip, were killed by Palestinians.

On the other hand, the Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees Authority said yesterday that the number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails is about 6000 detainees, in addition to 23 Arab detainees from Jordan and Syria.

The official state body said in a statement that these detainees are distributed to 22 prisons inside Israel.

According to the report of the Commission for 2018, among these detainees 250 children and 54 women, and 27 journalists, and eight deputies of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

About 450 detainees are held in administrative detention, meaning that they are detained without a court order.

According to the authority, 87% of all Palestinian detainees are from the West Bank, approximately 8% from Jerusalem and 5% from the Gaza Strip.

Among the detainees are 48 detainees who have been detained for more than 20 years, including 27 detainees before the Oslo agreement signed by the PLO with the Israeli government in 1993.

The Palestinian Authority demands the release of Palestinian prisoners, especially those held by Israel prior to the Oslo Accords.