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Shortly after the armed wing of Hamas formally announced the six-month truce was over, the smaller Islamic Jihad group said it fired three rockets at Israel, which caused no reported damage or casualties.
At dawn, Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades military wing said: "The ceasefire is over and there won't be a renewal because the Zionist enemy has not respected its conditions."
On Friday night, another rocket was fired on Israel, again without casualties, the army said.
AFPPalestinian militants of the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees stand guard at a press conference
©AFP Mohammed Abed
Both Hamas and Israel have said they would respond if attacked, but neither has said it would go on the offensive at this stage.
"We issue a warning to the Zionist enemy: all attacks against the Gaza Strip or any new crime will trigger a large-scale confrontation and we will retaliate very fiercely," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told the Haaretz newspaper "if the quiet continues, there will be quiet. If the lull is shattered, we will act."
"I do not flinch from an operation and I do not rush into an operation," he added of the impoverished territory.
Several newspapers said the Israeli defence establishment is not eager for battle at this stage.
AFPPalestinian militants of Saraya Al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigades), the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, train in Gaza City
©AFP Mohammed Abed
"There are myriad arguments against a war in Gaza, but the strongest is the one defence officials can't utter aloud ... It would be hard to go into Gaza at the height of an election campaign," Haaretz said.
Israel will hold legislative elections on February 10 after scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in September.
The truce had been uneasy ever since taking effect on June 19, and violence has increased since early November, with 18 Palestinians killed and Israel reporting more than 250 rocket and mortar fire attacks.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the truce, which was negotiated through Egyptian intermediaries because the Jewish state regards the Islamists as a terrorist organisation.
Israel blames Hamas for not stopping attacks often carried out by smaller Palestinian factions, such as Islamic Jihad. The Islamists say Israel's raids and its continued blockade were in violation of the truce.
AFPA Palestinian woman militant of the Saraya Al-Quds holds mortar shells during a rally in Gaza City
©AFP Mohammed Abed
Israel responded to the November surge of violence by tightening sanctions and closing crossing points with Gaza, halting deliveries of humanitarian aid and other supplies.
The UN Relief and Works Agency said shortages caused by the closures and the rocket fire forced it to suspend distribution of food assistance to about half the 1.5-million-strong population on Thursday.
In Washington, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who had called for a continuation of the truce, was to discuss the situation with US President George W. Bush.
Abbas was to fly to Moscow on Saturday, where he is set to meet President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time.
Russia urged Hamas to reconsider its decision.
"We received with great concern the information that (Hamas) will not keep to the truce in the Gaza Strip," the foreign ministry said on Friday. "Such decisions risk causing new victims and suffering to innocent people."
Egypt called for restraint both from Israel and Hamas.
AFPAn Israeli D9 bulldozer patrols along the border with the northern Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Nahal Oz
©AFP Jack Guez
"Israel needs to show more flexibility by opening the crossing points and allowing essential supplies into Gaza," foreign ministry spokesman Hossan Zaki said in a statement.
He called for Palestinian factions to work to prevent an escalation "so that the Palestinian population does not end up -- yet again -- paying the price for a confrontation which it did not seek."
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the European Union expressed its "deepest concern" and called for restraint from both sides.
"Dozens and dozens of rockets are raining down on Israeli territory. At the same time the Gaza Strip is blocked: water, electricity, medicine, essential goods are lacking," he said in a statement.
"The international community must not and cannot remain indifferent," said Kouchner, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Meanwhile, people were out on the streets outside Beirut and in Manama demonstrating against the blockade.
At dawn, Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades military wing said: "The ceasefire is over and there won't be a renewal because the Zionist enemy has not respected its conditions."
On Friday night, another rocket was fired on Israel, again without casualties, the army said.
AFPPalestinian militants of the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees stand guard at a press conference
©AFP Mohammed Abed
Both Hamas and Israel have said they would respond if attacked, but neither has said it would go on the offensive at this stage.
"We issue a warning to the Zionist enemy: all attacks against the Gaza Strip or any new crime will trigger a large-scale confrontation and we will retaliate very fiercely," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak told the Haaretz newspaper "if the quiet continues, there will be quiet. If the lull is shattered, we will act."
"I do not flinch from an operation and I do not rush into an operation," he added of the impoverished territory.
Several newspapers said the Israeli defence establishment is not eager for battle at this stage.
AFPPalestinian militants of Saraya Al-Quds (Jerusalem Brigades), the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, train in Gaza City
©AFP Mohammed Abed
"There are myriad arguments against a war in Gaza, but the strongest is the one defence officials can't utter aloud ... It would be hard to go into Gaza at the height of an election campaign," Haaretz said.
Israel will hold legislative elections on February 10 after scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in September.
The truce had been uneasy ever since taking effect on June 19, and violence has increased since early November, with 18 Palestinians killed and Israel reporting more than 250 rocket and mortar fire attacks.
Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the truce, which was negotiated through Egyptian intermediaries because the Jewish state regards the Islamists as a terrorist organisation.
Israel blames Hamas for not stopping attacks often carried out by smaller Palestinian factions, such as Islamic Jihad. The Islamists say Israel's raids and its continued blockade were in violation of the truce.
AFPA Palestinian woman militant of the Saraya Al-Quds holds mortar shells during a rally in Gaza City
©AFP Mohammed Abed
Israel responded to the November surge of violence by tightening sanctions and closing crossing points with Gaza, halting deliveries of humanitarian aid and other supplies.
The UN Relief and Works Agency said shortages caused by the closures and the rocket fire forced it to suspend distribution of food assistance to about half the 1.5-million-strong population on Thursday.
In Washington, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, who had called for a continuation of the truce, was to discuss the situation with US President George W. Bush.
Abbas was to fly to Moscow on Saturday, where he is set to meet President Dmitry Medvedev for the first time.
Russia urged Hamas to reconsider its decision.
"We received with great concern the information that (Hamas) will not keep to the truce in the Gaza Strip," the foreign ministry said on Friday. "Such decisions risk causing new victims and suffering to innocent people."
Egypt called for restraint both from Israel and Hamas.
AFPAn Israeli D9 bulldozer patrols along the border with the northern Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Nahal Oz
©AFP Jack Guez
"Israel needs to show more flexibility by opening the crossing points and allowing essential supplies into Gaza," foreign ministry spokesman Hossan Zaki said in a statement.
He called for Palestinian factions to work to prevent an escalation "so that the Palestinian population does not end up -- yet again -- paying the price for a confrontation which it did not seek."
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the European Union expressed its "deepest concern" and called for restraint from both sides.
"Dozens and dozens of rockets are raining down on Israeli territory. At the same time the Gaza Strip is blocked: water, electricity, medicine, essential goods are lacking," he said in a statement.
"The international community must not and cannot remain indifferent," said Kouchner, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
Meanwhile, people were out on the streets outside Beirut and in Manama demonstrating against the blockade.
