JERUSALEM, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- A rocket fired by Gaza militants exploded in southern Israel on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage, the army said.

"A projectile was launched from the Gaza Strip at Israeli territory," a military spokesperson said in a statement.

A later notice said the projectile was located in an open field in the Eshkol Regional Council in the Negev desert.

On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said three rockets fired by Gaza militants at Israel on the same day were "made by Iran."

On Sunday, a military official told the Hebrew-language Ynet news site that the rockets were standard Iranian-manufactured rockets and fired by the Islamic Jihad, a radical Islamic group based in the Gaza Strip.

The number of rockets fired by Gaza militants toward Israel has been rising since U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017.

At least 12 Gazans have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces since Trump's announcement, and dozens more injured.

The rockets are typically launched by Islamist groups in Gaza that challenge Hamas, which runs the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israel usually retaliates by striking Hamas posts, charging that it holds Hamas accountable for any hostility from Gaza.