Rocket fire resumes after cease-fire offer

Palestinian militants fired five homemade rockets into Israel on Friday, a day after the Hamas-led government offered to renew a cease-fire.

Photo: Rocket fire resumes after cease-fire offer

Though the rockets were not fired by Hamas, they are likely to provoke a sharp Israeli response endangering prospects for a return to quiet following days of intense bloodshed.

The Israeli army said there were no injuries. But the attacks drew a tough threat from a senior Israeli official and raised questions about efforts to restore calm after nearly a week of fighting.

Hamas announced Thursday that it was ready to restore the February 2005 cease-fire, which broke down last week after a beach explosion killed eight Palestinians. A Hamas official said the group also was working to stop the daily rocket barrages against Israel.

Israel responded favorably. "If it is quiet, we will answer that with quiet," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry.

But violence quickly resumed. Late Thursday, an Israeli aircraft attacked a group of militants on the Gaza-Israel border. The military said the militants were trying to plant bombs.

Palestinian hospital officials said the bodies of two Islamic Jihad militants were recovered. Reports of a third body proved incorrect, medics and hospital officials said.

Militant groups loosely linked to President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.

The flare-up threatened to disrupt the latest efforts to restore the truce. Haim Ramon, a Cabinet minister in the ruling Kadima Party, said Friday that Israel is prepared to step up efforts to halt the rocket fire, reports AP.

O.Ch.