Security officers investigate the scene of a rocket attack in a southern Israeli town near the Gaza border.

The strike comes a day after U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in Israel for a three-day tour.

One of the residents said the attack took him by surprise.

(SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) PARTUSH PORON, RESIDENT OF SDEROT, SAYING:

"We woke with the strange whistle of the rocket. We thought the alarm was a mistake. We didn't realise that something like this would happen, it was very strange."

There were no reports of injuries.

It is the second time rockets launched from Gaza have hit Israel since a truce ended an eight-day cross-border war in November.

Obama's second day in the Middle East will include a visit to Ramallah in the West Bank for meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.