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 Medical officials in Gaza said two Palestinians were killed when
their motorcycle was bombed and the bodies of three others were
found beneath the rubble of one of three bombed mosques.
The air strikes which lasted through the night also bombed three
houses, and fighter planes also strafed open areas, medical
officials said.
The Israeli military said that since midnight it had attacked more
than 30 sites in the coastal enclave where Hamas Islamists are
dominant, without specifying the targets.
Gaza militants fired six rockets at towns in Israel's south on
Saturday setting off alarm sirens and causing no damage or injuries,
a military spokeswoman said.
Violence also picked up in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian
territory where President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement holds sway,
where a Palestinian man, 43, died of a gunshot wound to the chest
from a confrontation with Israeli soldiers in the city of Hebron,
medical officials said.
Israeli troops shot and killed another Palestinian man, 20, on
Friday at a protest near a Jewish settlement outside Ramallah,
Israeli military officials said.
Egypt, helped by American and European mediators, has made no
visible progress toward resuming a 72-hour ceasefire that halted the
fighting between Israel and Gaza militants that began on July 8, but
was expected to pursue these efforts again on Saturday.
The ceasefire expired on Friday with the sides still far apart on
the terms for renewing the deal and each side blaming the other for
refusing to extend it.
Israel accused Hamas of firing several rockets about four hours
before the deal expired at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT). In all, Gaza militant
fired 57 rockets at Israel throughout Friday.
Israel also launched air strikes in Gaza on Friday, killing five
Palestinians, among them a 10-year-old boy near a mosque in Gaza
City. An Islamic Jihad militant and three other Palestinians were
killed in the southern Gaza Strip.
Police said two people in Israel were injured by mortar fire from
Gaza on Friday.
RAMPING UP THE PRESSURE
By resuming attacks against Israel, Gaza militants appeared to be
trying to ramp up pressure and making it clear they were ready to
fight on to fulfill a goal of ending a blockade of the territory
that both Israel and neighboring Egypt have imposed.
Heavy civilian casualties and destruction during Israel's campaign
against militants in packed residential areas of the Gaza Strip have
raised international alarm over the past month, but efforts to
prolong a ceasefire at talks in Cairo failed.
 Gaza officials say the war has killed 1,886 Palestinians, most of
them civilians.
Israel says 64 of its soldiers and three civilians have died in the
fighting that began on July 8, after a surge in Palestinian rocket
salvoes into Israel.
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It expanded its air and naval bombardment of the Gaza Strip into a
ground offensive on July 17, and pulled its infantry and armor out
of the enclave on Tuesday after saying it had destroyed more than 30
infiltration tunnels dug by militants.
The White House urged Israel and the Palestinians to do what they
could to preserve civilians after having failed to extend their
ceasefire. Spokesman John Earnest said on Friday "the United States
is very concerned" about the renewed violence. "We condemn the
renewed rocket fire and we are concerned about the safety and
security of civilians on both sides of the conflict," Earnest said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a similar statement urging
the parties "not to resort to further military action that can only
exacerbate the already appalling humanitarian situation in Gaza."
Israel had earlier said it was ready to agree to an extension as
Egyptian go-betweens pursued negotiations with Israeli and
Palestinian delegates.
Hamas did not agree. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Israel had
rejected most of the group's demands. He said the Palestinians had
wanted Israel to agree in principle to lift a Gaza blockade, release
prisoners and permit the opening of a sea port, but these had been
rebuffed.
"However, we did not close the door and will continue with the
negotiations," Abu Zuhri said.
Israel has shown little interest in easing its naval blockade of
Gaza and controls on overland traffic and airspace, suspecting Hamas
could restock with weapons from abroad.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a member of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet said the issue of a sea port
should be part of wider peace negotiations with the Palestinians and
that Hamas should not at this time be rewarded for "using force
against Israeli citizens."
In Cairo, the foreign ministry called for a resumption of the
ceasefire, saying only a few points remained to be agreed.
Egypt mediates the talks but is meeting separately with each party.
Israel and Hamas deny each other's legitimacy, with Hamas rejecting
Israel's right to exist and Israel rejecting Hamas as a terrorist
organization.
(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Writing by Allyn
Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Giles Elgood)
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