Hamas 'considers truce ended'

Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells towards Israel today and said they considered a five-month truce to have ended.

Also in Gaza, an angry clan stormed the parliament building, carrying the body of a dead family member to demand the killers be brought to justice.

Today’s rocket attack, which came on Israel’s 59th Independence Day, did not cause any damage or injury. However, it marked the first time Hamas openly acknowledged firing shells toward Israel since agreeing to a cease-fire along the Gaza-Israel border in November.

A spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing said the group considered the truce to have ended.

“The cease-fire has been over for a long time, and Israel is responsible for that,” spokesman Abu Obeida told the Voice of Palestine radio station.

In recent months, Hamas had largely held back on attacks, particularly during its negotiations on a power-sharing agreement with the Fatah movement of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Now the Muslim militant group appears to be spoiling for a fight, especially in the absence of any progress toward the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Shalit was captured by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza last June.

“This is a message to the Zionist enemy that our strikes will continue,” Abu Obeida said of the rocket fire. “We are ready to kidnap more and more, and kill more and more of your soldiers.”

Shalit’s kidnappers demand the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including veterans and those involved in killing or wounding Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday said that freeing soldiers was important to the government, but that it would not repeat “mistakes made in the past” by releasing violent prisoners who then carried out more attacks against Israelis.

However, Mr Olmert said there would be “no escape in the end from making a difficult decision” on trading prisoners for captured Israeli troops.