An Israel Air Force strike killed a Hamas gunman in the southern Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and mortars into southern Israel on Wednesday, dampening prospects for a renewed cease fire. The six-month cease fire between Israel and Hamas expired last week.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government said it had shown restraint until now but vowed to act if the salvoes continued. Aides to Olmert, who met his security cabinet, would not reveal what options were under discussion.
Before nightfall on Wednesday, militants had fired more than 30 rockets and 30 mortar shells at Israel. While most struck unpopulated areas, two struck homes, causing damage but no injuries.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said Wednesday's air strike hit a group of militants who had just fired mortars at Israel.
Palestinian medical workers said one Hamas militant was killed in the strike and two other Palestinians were wounded, including a cameraman from Hamas' television station. They added that the Hamas man had belonged to the organization's military wing, Iz al-Din al-Qassam, and that he was killed east of the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
The latest violence erupted on Tuesday night when Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas gunmen. The army said the men were preparing to plant explosives along the border.
Meanwhile Wednesday, Hamas' military wing warned that "thousands of additional Israelis will soon be within the range of our rockets if Israel continues with its aggression."
"The residents of the south will stay in the bomb shelters for a long time," the Hamas statement continued, adding that "threats of an [Israeli] military offensive don't scare us because we are more prepared than ever.
The Magen David Adom rescue service declared its highest level of alert by late morning, as some 40 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel between 9 A.M. and 1 P.M.
One of the rockets exploded next to a children's playground in the southern town of Netivot and a mortar shell scored a direct hit on a house in Kibbutz Sha'ar Hanegev, causing extensive damage. A house in the community of Sdot Negev was also severely damaged after it absorbed a direct rocket hit.
Two more rockets, including a Grad-type missile, exploded in a public area in the northern Negev city of Ashkelon.
The Home Front Command warned all Gaza-area residents to keep children indoors as the barrage continues and the Sderot municipality told all of its residents not leave their homes until the situation has stabilized.
The security cabinet held an urgent session on Wednesday morning to discuss how Israel should respond to the fire, calling in Defense Minister Ehud Barak for consultations.
The defense establishment, meanwhile, ordered border crossings to Gaza to remain closed on Wednesday in response to the attacks.
On Tuesday, Israel had said it would to open the border to allow food and medicine to enter the Gaza Strip, after days in which the crossings were closed due to the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza.
The shipment of humanitarian aid was to include five trucks from Egypt, which requested that Israel open the Kerem Shalom crossing to let the convoy pass, and 30 from the West Bank containing goods supplied by international organizations.
The rocket and mortar barrage came after a senior Hamas official said in an interview published Tuesday that the Islamist group would be willing to renew its cease-fire with Israel without adding any new conditions.
The barrage was apparently launched in response to the Israel Defense Forces' killing of three armed Palestinians on Tuesday, who were seen laying bombs along the Israel-Gaza border on Tuesday.
Six rockets struck the Negev on Tuesday and four more hit the day before, despite Hamas' declaration on Monday that militant factions had agreed to a 24-hour truce.