An Israeli air strike on a car in Gaza killed a Palestinian today in an attack that came just hours after Hamas militants stepped back from a Palestinian government offer to renew a ceasefire with Israel.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the strike targeted Islamic Jihad militants in the vehicle who were responsible for recent rocket attacks.
The group has killed hundreds of Israelis in such strikes and in suicide bombings.
Earlier, Hamas militants distanced themselves from a ceasefire offer that the Palestinian government led by the Islamist group made to Israel, while other armed groups also spurned the proposal.
Violence has increased in recent weeks. Israel killed more than a dozen Palestinians in recent days, including militants and civilian bystanders, while militants in Gaza have increased rocket attacks into the Jewish state.
About 120 rockets landed in Israel over the past week, the army spokeswoman said, although such attacks have decreased in the past two days.
The surge in rocket strikes erupted after seven Palestinians died in an explosion on a Gaza beach, which the Hamas-led Palestinian government blamed on Israel. Differences over the truce offer, which was conditional on Israel stopping raids and air strikes in Gaza and the West Bank, could point to disagreement between the Hamas grassroots and the government over tactics.
Hamas's armed wing scrapped a 16-month truce with Israel a week ago and soon after launched a barrage of makeshift rockets at the Jewish state from the Gaza Strip. But a government spokesman made a new ceasefire offer yesterday.
"We are not interested in making any offers or proposals," said Sami Abu Zuhri, official spokesman for the Hamas movement. "When the occupation stops its killings and crimes against our people then the factions may look into the issue in accordance with the interests of our people," he said.
The Islamists formed the government in March after winning parliamentary elections. Israeli officials have not commented on the ceasefire offer.
The Jewish state regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation and along with the United States and the European Union has imposed an economic embargo on the new government. Despite the sanctions, Hamas has rejected Western demands to recognise Israel's right to exist and disarm.
European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels agreed today on an aid scheme for Palestinians that will bypass the Hamas-led government.
The EU said it was close to winning the backing of the United States and other Middle East peace brokers. Israel has threatened to target top Hamas leaders if rocket fire continued.
"Very tough messages were relayed to Hamas that its political leadership - if Hamas is involved in rocket fire - will not be immune. We will strike them too," Justice Minister Haim Ramon said on Israel Radio.
The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement and the Islamic Jihad group both rejected the government's truce offer.
Mr Abbas, locked in a power struggle with Hamas, has stepped up pressure on the group by calling for a referendum on a statehood proposal that implicitly recognises Israel. Hamas has called the July 26th referendum an attempt to topple the government.