JERUSALEM (AFP) - A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian on Tuesday, the army said, the first Israeli death in eight days of cross-border violence.

The man was fatally wounded near the Erez crossing into Gaza, the army said.

A spokesman for the Israeli emergency services told AFP the 38-year-old was delivering food to soldiers serving in the area.

In a statement, Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing said it had fired five mortar rounds at Erez killing a soldier.

"The Qassam Brigades fired five mortar rounds at military forces at the Erez base," it said.

"The enemy acknowledges the death of a Zionist soldier and the injury of another in the Qassam shelling of the Erez base."