Militant Killed as Israel Strikes Targets in Gaza

Israeli air strikes on Wednesday killed a Palestinian militant, prompting a flurry of mortar fire into southern Israel just days after armed groups agreed to a temporary truce.

Heightened tensions in and around the Gaza border raised fears of a fresh descent into violence scarcely 48 hours after militant factions had agreed to end rocket fire on southern -- Israel on condition the Israeli air force also stopped its raids.

Ismael al-Ismar, 34, a leader in the al-Quds Brigades -- the armed wing of Islamic Jihad -- died when a missile ploughed into his car in the southern city of Rafah near the Egyptian border, witnesses and the militant group said.

An Israeli military spokesman confirmed the strike, saying it had targeted "an activist linked to Islamic Jihad who was implicated in attempted terrorist actions in the Sinai."

Several hours later, two mortar shells crashed into the Eshkol region, which flanks the southern sector of the Israel-Gaza border, Israeli police said.

The mortar fire was claimed by the al-Quds Brigades, which said it had fired six shells from central Gaza towards the Kissufim crossing, which is located in the Eshkol region.

Shortly afterwards, the air force launched another raid targeting "two terrorists who had fired rockets at Israel from two separate locations," a military statement said.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed the raid, saying two Islamic Jihad militants had been moderately wounded in an area near Deir al-Balah, which lies close to Kissufim.

The exchanges raised questions over the durability of a ceasefire agreement announced late Sunday following four days of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, which killed 15 Palestinians and an Israeli.

The Egyptian-brokered truce was agreed to by Gaza's main militant groups including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and on Monday the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) also agreed to abide by it.

Several hours later, four more rockets were fired over the border, but Israel did not respond, with the press attributing it to "small terror groups looking to challenge Hamas and demonstrate their independence."

The latest cycle of violence erupted on Thursday, when gunmen unleashed mayhem on a desert road near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat, killing eight Israelis in an attack blamed on the PRC.

In the following days, Israeli air strikes killed 15 Palestinians, 12 of them militants, military sources said. More than 50 people were wounded.

Militants also fired more than 100 rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel, killing one and injuring more than 20.

During the hunt for Thursday's attackers, Israeli troops inadvertently shot dead five Egyptian policemen, prompting a diplomatic crisis with Cairo -- which has reportedly put huge pressure on the Jewish state to curb its military action in Gaza.

"This is a delicate situation and there is a real risk of endangering the (1979 Egyptian-Israeli) peace treaty, which is a precious strategic asset for Israel," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in televised remarks late on Tuesday.

And a high-ranking military official told army radio that a stringent Israeli riposte in Gaza could have serious implications for the entire region.

"The whole Middle East is a powder keg and an Israeli action could have consequences for what is happening in Egypt, in Syria and in Libya," he said.

Israel on Tuesday sent a complaint to the United Nations on account of the Security Council's failure to condemn the desert attacks, the foreign ministry said.

A statement which would have denounced the attacks as "terrorism" was on Friday blocked by Lebanon, which opposed the use of the word because one of the attacked buses was carrying soldiers who were heading to Eilat for a holiday.