Israel's Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman has ordered the closure of both of Israel's border crossings with Gaza after a Palestinian rocket attack hit a southern city prompting retaliatory air strikes.

Mr Lieberman ordered the closure of the Kerem Shalom goods crossing and the Erez crossing for people, and the reduction of the permitted fishing zone along the Gaza coast to three nautical miles, the defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, said.

Israeli jets struck targets in Gaza after a rocket is reported to have struck the southern city of Be'er Sheva - there were no immediate reports of injuries or details of damage.

The Israeli army says it holds Islamist group Hamas accountable for what is happening in the territory under its control.

It comes at a time of renewed tensions between Israel and Palestinian armed groups and after months of violent Palestinian protests on the Gaza border.

At least 205 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed since 30 March.

The protesters were demanding to be allowed to return to land now inside Israel, from which their families fled or were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the Jewish state.

Yesterday, Mr Lieberman warned that the protests could not be allowed to go on.

"We are not prepared to accept the level of violence we see week after week," he told troops and commanders at an army base near the border with Gaza.

He also suspended shipments of fuel that had been trucked daily into Gaza over the previous week under a deal brokered by the UN and backed by the United States, Israel and others.

The UN says Israel's 11-year blockade of the enclave has resulted in a "catastrophic" humanitarian situation.

Gaza's two million residents endure dire living conditions including a shortage of safe drinking water and regular power cuts, partly due to a lack of fuel for the its power station.