GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli air strike against a rocket squad killed a Palestinian militant Saturday, the first Gaza death since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce with Israel.Since November, Israel has tightened the blockade to pressure Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on Israeli border towns. However, sporadic fighting has continued, and GazaÂ’s Hamas rulers declared Friday that they would not continue a truce that had taken effect in June.
On Saturday, Palestinians fired 10 rockets and at least 23 mortar shells from Gaza into Israel, causing some property damage but no casualties, the Israeli military said. An Israeli air strike at one of the rocket squads in northern Gaza killed a militant, said the army and Palestinian medics. The Al Aqsa MartyrsÂ’ Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud AbbasÂ’ Fatah movement, identified the dead man as one of its fighters. Hamas said carried out the mortar fire.