At least 14 Palestinians have been killed in a series of Israeli air and artillery strikes in the Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours. The Israeli military says the attacks were in response to a surge of rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel.
The casualties included several civilians. The military wing of the militant Islamist group Hamas said it will no longer honor a de facto truce that had held for 15 months.
In one of the attacks, Israeli troops killed a top Palestinian militia commander in an overnight missile strike in the Gaza Strip. Jamal Abu Samhadana was the head of a controversial new police force in Gaza established by the Hamas-led government. Another Israeli air strike killed at least seven Palestinian civilians.
The violence followed a week in which Hamas has continued to resist pressure from President Abbas to agree to a proposal for a future Palestinian state that implicitly recognizes Israel. Abbas is scheduled to formally announce a date for a referendum on the proposal soon.
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