Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip bombarded southern Israel with mortars and rockets early Wednesday, burdening diplomatic efforts to revive a truce that expired over the weekend.
Separately, a civilian was badly wounded in an explosion at a house in Gaza City. Two other civilians were lightly wounded when a rocket failed to clear the border and landed on a house in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, Gaza health officials said.
Meanwhile, two militants were killed when an explosive they were preparing went off prematurely.
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza, said the bombardment was in retaliation for the deaths of three of its fighters in a clash with Israeli troops late Tuesday. Israel said the militants were planting explosives in northern Gaza along the border fence.
About 40 rockets and mortars were fired at southern Israel by midday Wednesday, the military said. No injuries were reported, but a factory, a home and other structures were damaged.
One of the rockets struck outside the home of Benny Gueta of Ashkelon, 11 miles from the Gaza border.
"We heard the alarm and the whistling as it approached, and then we heard a big explosion," which destroyed a storage shed and shattered some of the house's windows, Gueta told Israel Radio.
"We can't live this way," Gueta added.
In Gaza, health officials said Iyad Dremly, a Palestinian attorney who works for a conflict resolution center, was badly wounded in an explosion that ripped through his two-story apartment building in Gaza City.
Militants were firing rockets and mortars from the area, and the military said it did not carry out any attacks on Gaza.
Two other civilians were hurt when a rocket landed on another house several miles to the north in Beit Lahiya. Before dawn, two militants were killed in southern Gaza when an explosive they were preparing went off prematurely.
Before the violence resumed, Israel had agreed to open cargo crossings with Gaza on Wednesday to allow in a limited amount of food, medicines and fuel, including supplies from Egypt. But military spokesman Peter Lerner said the passages would remain closed because of the militant barrages.
A truce that largely held for five months expired on Friday. Israel has maintained a strict blockade of Gaza since the cease-fire began unraveling six weeks ago, allowing in only small quantities of essential goods. Egypt has also sealed its border crossing with the territory.
The sanctions have deepened the destitution in Gaza, home to 1.4 million Palestinians who are confined to the tiny coastal strip. Gazans have worked around the blockade by bringing in some supplies through tunnels dug under the Gaza-Egypt border.
In Gaza, the head of the territory's tiny Roman Catholic community canceled Christmas eve's Midnight Mass celebration, to protest Israel's blockade. Father Manuel Musallem said the parish would instead hold an evening mass. About 4,000 Christians live in Gaza, a conservative Muslim society of roughly 1.4 million people. There are about 300 Roman Catholics in Gaza, and most of the remaining Christians are Greek Orthodox.
Amid the violence, both sides have expressed willingness to consider reviving the six-month truce, which lapsed on Friday. Egypt, which mediated the original cease-fire, is leading the diplomatic efforts to renew it, and on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.
Alongside talk of restoring the truce, Israel is preparing for an escalation of violence.
Israeli leaders have approved a large-scale military operation to stop the rocket fire, but are reluctant to press ahead with a campaign sure to exact heavy casualties on both sides. Past incursions have not halted the barrages, and defense and political officials fear anything short of a reoccupation of Gaza would fail to achieve the desired results
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