Hamas says ready for truce

Hamas' military wing said on Wednesday it was ready to sign up to an Egyptian-brokered truce to end cross-border fighting after Israeli air strikes killed eight Palestinians in three days. In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades said: "Responding to the Egyptian efforts, we and the armed resistance announce our commitment to stop this round of confrontation as long as the occupation stops this aggression." Israel had no immediate comment. It customarily avoids responding whenever intermediaries reach an accord with Gaza militants as Israel refuses to recognize them citing the Islamists' refusal to acknowledge Israel's existence. The Israeli military had earlier said in a statement it would "continue to operate with perseverance and determination against those who use terror against the State of Israel". An Egyptian source had earlier told Reuters that efforts were afoot to try to achieve a ceasefire in fighting seen as risking a wider conflict at a time when Egypt faces political uncertainty after a contested presidential election. An Israeli raid on Wednesday killed a Palestinian riding a motorcycle in Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel said he was a member of a fringe Islamist Salafi network involved in an attack on Monday launched from Egypt's Sinai desert. A newly formed radical Islamist movement, the "Shura Council of Mujahideen in the Holy Land", claimed responsibility for Monday's raid from Egypt in which a Palestinian citizen of Israel and two militants were killed. A second Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Wednesday killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded his father, also a civilian, the officials said. The Israeli military confirmed the air strikes, saying the second one had targeted a squad firing rockets from a largely civilian-inhabited area in northern Gaza. Israel launched two more air strikes on Hamas security bases in Gaza after darkness fell, lightly injuring two boys aged 13 and 14, who sustained shrapnel wounds, medics said. Israel confirmed these attacks as well. Palestinians fired more than 50 rockets into Israel on Wednesday, sending panicky residents fleeing to safe rooms or shelters, and damaging a home but causing no casualties, police and the Israeli army said. Israeli attacks killed four Palestinians on Monday and two teenagers early Tuesday morning. Cairo has brokered Gaza truces in the past, but they sometimes take days to evolve. An Egyptian official said an agreement by Israel and Palestinian factions had earlier been secured to cease hostilities on Tuesday night but had fallen through.