The Palestinian group Hamas made a seaborne raid off the Gaza Strip today to reinforce its rejection of a halt to anti-Israeli attacks ahead of Palestinian truce talks.
The Israeli army said one its warships blew up an explosives-laden raft off the coast of the Gaza Strip Jewish settlement of Dugit. The military said the raft was unmanned and nobody was killed or wounded.
But Hamas's military wing later issued a statement saying one of its militants had been killed in the abortive operation.
The Israeli military banned all Palestinian vessels from putting to sea after the attempted raid, which came soon after Hamas's rejection of a temporary halt to attacks that Palestinian factions had been due to discuss in Cairo.
"Hamas officially informed Egypt of its final answer: our position is against ending the resistance and abiding by a one-year truce," senior Hamas official Mr Abdelaziz Rantissi said, adding "operations inside Israel will continue.
"It has been decided that the inter-Palestinian dialogue will resume in Cairo on January 22nd and we will attend," he said.
"We believe the talks will lead to positive results because this time all Palestinian factions have been invited by Egypt to attend and will confirm the right of our people to resist," he said, without giving any further details.
AFP