Deadly Gaza conflict reignites as Egypt urges new truce

GAZA CITY: Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza Saturday, a day after killing at least five Palestinians, and militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel after attempts to extend a three-day truce stalled.

The month-long conflict flared once again after mediators tried but failed to extend a ceasefire that expired at 0500 GMT Friday as Palestinian militants shattered the quiet with pre-dawn rocket attacks.

But the United States said it still hoped that the situation could be retrieved and that a new ceasefire could be in place soon.

"Our hope is that the parties will agree to an extension of the ceasefire in the coming hours," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.

Egypt, which is mediating between Israelis and Palestinians, insisted negotiations were making progress and urged a new truce but Israel recalled its delegation and warned it would not negotiate under fire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to retaliate "forcefully" and blamed Hamas for breaching the ceasefire.

Palestinian militants fired 40 rockets into Israel, injuring one civilian and a soldier, the army said.

"In response, we struck 51 terror sites and targeted three terrorists in Gaza," a military statement said, without elaborating.

The violence ended the 72-hour lull in fighting between Israel and Hamas that has killed at least 1,898 Palestinians and 67 people on the Israeli side, almost all soldiers, since July 8.

In Gaza, fighting died down in the early hours of Saturday but Israel carried out a number of attacks, mainly on areas from which the population has fled, an AFP correspondent said.

Rocket fire on Israel stopped Friday at 1800 GMT, according to the Israeli army.

Five Palestinians were killed and at least 31 others wounded in Friday´s air strikes, said Ashraf al-Qudra, Gaza´s emergency services spokesman. Among the dead was a 10-year-old boy.

Some Palestinian families who had returned home trickled back to shelter in UN-run schools when militants fired rockets at Israel and Israel retaliated.

The United Nations says at least 1,354 of the Palestinians killed since July 8 were civilians, including 447 children.

In the Al-Tuffah district of Gaza City, hundreds of refugees were seen living in classrooms, laundry hanging off balconies and a scrum of people queueing for UN food handouts.

"Of course we´re all scared, I´m scared, my children are scared, my wife is scared," Abdullah Abdullah, 33, told AFP at the school. (AFP)