Ceasefire on the rocks as Israel kills Hamas militants

ISRAEL killed seven Hamas gunmen in air strikes yesterday in retaliation for a deadly Palestinian rocket attack, resuming its assassination policy against militants as a five-month-old truce appeared to be unravelling.

The militant Islamic group Hamas said the back-to-back missile strikes on cars in the West Bank and Gaza Strip would “open the doors of hell” on Israel and said it was reconsidering its commitment to the ceasefire.

The surge of violence, one of the worst since Israel and the Palestinian Authority declared an end to hostilities in February, raised the possibility of disruptions to Israel’s planned pull-out of settlers from occupied Gaza next month.