A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in a community north of Tel Aviv on Monday, wounding seven Israelis and leading Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cut short a visit to the United States.
Israel's army said the rocket was fired from the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas, raising the risk of another escalation between the two sides just ahead of April 9 Israeli elections.
Netanyahu is currently in Washington and said he would return home after meeting US President Donald Trump later Monday, cancelling an address to pro-Israel lobby AIPAC's annual conference on Tuesday.
Israel also closed its people and goods crossings with the blockaded Gaza Strip and reduced the zone in the Mediterranean it allows for Palestinian fishermen off the enclave, a statement said.
The house hit was located in the community of Mishmeret, around 20 kilometres north of Tel Aviv, police said.
Mishmeret is more than 80 kilometres from the Gaza Strip and rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave at that distance is rare.
The hospital treating the wounded said seven Israelis were injured lightly by burns and shrapnel, including four adults and three children.
One of the wounded was a six-month-old child and six of them were members of the same family.
The house was destroyed in the wake of the rocket and subsequent fire, with burnt wood, a children's toy and other debris piled at the site.
Netanyahu said "there has been a criminal attack on the state of Israel and we will respond with force."
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