Wars, Gaza Cease-fire | featured news

Hamas officials said Friday that an announcement of an 18-month cease-fire with Israel was days away. An Israeli official said nothing had been agreed yet.

Israel launched air strikes against a number of targets in Gaza Monday to retaliate against Palestinian militants who have fired a "barrage" of rockets inside the Jewish state in recent days, the military said.

As Israel prepared to launch its assault into Gaza in late December, it braced for substantial casualties among its own troops. Commanders warned their men of Hamas' suicide commandos, missiles that could smash tanks and knock helicopters out of the sky, and long-range rockets that could reach deeper into Israel.

Gaza militants launched two rockets into southern Israel Sunday, drawing a threat of “harsh and disproportionate” retaliation from Israel’s prime minister.

The Israeli military said that Palestinians detonated an explosive device near troops patrolling on the Israeli side of the Gaza border in the first incident since the cease-fire.

A fragile halt to the devastating 22-day battle opened the way for intensified efforts to build a more durable peace.

The announcement, 12 hours after Israel declared its own cease-fire, came after a flurry of rocket launches.

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip launched rockets into southern Israel on Sunday in defiance of the unilateral ceasefire that Israel declared hours earlier.

The U.S. has agreed to a range of measures, including providing international monitors, to help stem the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.

Hamas officials say they have given Egyptian mediators their views on a Gaza cease-fire plan with Israel, and are waiting for Israel's response.