New Gaza violence despite Hamas truce deal

GAZA CITY: Israel on Friday responded to rocket fire from Gaza with an air strike that killed a Palestinian, hours after a Hamas official said the they accepted an Egyptian-brokered truce for the war-ravaged territory.

"There was an air strike in Khan Yunis against operatives who were planning an attack inside Israel," an Israeli military spokesman said.

Palestinian medics said an activist was killed and three more people were wounded in the raid near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. The raid targeted two members of the Popular Resistance Committees armed group, witnesses said.

Witnesses said air strikes also targeted smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt, which Israel claims are used by Palestinian armed groups to smuggle in weapons. 

Earlier on Friday, Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel, causing no 

The latest violence came after Egypt's official news agency MENA said late Thursday that Hamas had accepted an 18-month truce with Israel in and around Gaza, with a formal announcement to be made soon. 

"We have agreed to the truce with the Israeli side for a year and a half (in return) for the opening of all six passages between the Gaza Strip and Israel," Hamas's deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuk told MENA.

Egypt will announce the agreement after contacting Israel and the Palestinian factions, he said after talks with Cairo mediators. Israel was yet to comment.

Israel imposed a crippling blockade of Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory in a week of vicious street battles in June 2007, ousting Fatah loyalists of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Ending the blockade has been a key Hamas demand and the reason it says it launched rockets and mortar rounds into Israel after another Egyptian brokered six-month truce that expired in December.

Egypt proposed a three-point plan to end the Gaza war and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has met separately with Israeli and Palestinian officials to negotiate a permanent truce.