JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says a rocket fired from Gaza made a direct hit on a home in southern Israel.

The Magen David Adom rescue service says Wednesday the mother and three children in the home are being treated for shock symptoms. They took cover in their shelter during the attack.

The rocket attack against Israel is the first in months and the first that hit an Israeli home since the 2014 summer war between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.

It comes a day after Israel's defense minister said the time had come to deliver a "heavy blow" to Hamas after weeks of escalation violence along the border.

Hamas has held weekly border protests for the past six months, aimed in part at easing a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade.