"A Grad rocket hit the centre of the city of Beersheva. One man was moderately injured by shrapnel and taken to hospital," the spokeswoman said.

Another Grad rocket fired by militants in the Gaza Strip hit the outskirts of Beersheva on February 23, but this was the first time since Operation Cast Lead that such a projectile landed in the middle of the city, home to 186,000 people.

Beersheba is about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Gaza, much further than the Israeli cities regularly targeted by Palestinian

Operation Cast Lead was the name given to Israel's devastating 22 day war on Gaza which started at the end of December 2008 in a bid to halt rocket fire on Israel.