Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft struck a "terror activity site" in the northern Gaza Strip late Wednesday, with pilots reporting a direct hit on their target, the military said in a statement.

The overnight raid came in response to a Kassam-type rocket fired from the coastal enclave earlier in the day, which landed in an open area near the coastal city of Ashkelon. No injuries were reported.

"The Israel Defense Forces will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel," the statement said, adding that Israel holds Hamas accountable for the violence.

Overnight Tuesday, IAF aircraft attacked targets in northern Gaza as a reprisal for rockets fired at southern Israel during the day.

Airstrikes against rocket-launching crews over the weekend killed five Palestinians, among them a top militant who headed a Salafist cell affiliated with al-Qaida, which Israel said was set to launch a terror attack from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.

Sinai-based militants on Tuesday vowed to avenge the Gaza airstrikes, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

"We tell the Jews that the blood of our brothers in Palestine is ours and their revenge is ours... so wait for our painful reply, " the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes group said in a statement posted online.

While Israeli airstrikes continue, militant groups in Gaza have significantly scaled down their attacks in recent days, after firing near 60 rockets and mortar shells at the western Negev last week. Local analysts speculate that Hamas, which rules the territory, is regrouping and may soon resume intensive rocket fire.