Hamas denies launching rockets into Israel

The Islamist Hamas movement denied Tuesday firing four rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in an emailed press statement that "Hamas does not have any information on launching any rockets from Gaza".

"The Israeli occupation is aiming through this escalation in the region to abort the talks in Cairo," Xinhua quoted Zuhri as saying.

"The occupation is fully responsible for this escalation and all the consequences that would come out of it," he added.

A 24-hour ceasefire agreement reached in Cairo between Israel and the Palestinians Monday night was violated when unidentified militants fired rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel Tuesday noon.

Israeli war jets responded by striking the densely-populated enclave.

Eyewitnesses said that three rockets were fired Tuesday afternoon.

Israeli Radio reported that the three rockets landed in an empty area near the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheba.

Later, security officials in Gaza said that Israeli war jets carried out several successive air strikes on northern, central and southern Gaza Strip.

Ashraf al-Qedra, the health ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that five Palestinians, including two children were injured in one of the Israeli air strikes on Rafah town in Gaza's southeast.