Israel army resumes Gaza strikes

The Israeli army has resumed military operations against the Gaza Strip after an hours-long hiatus in line with an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire with Gaza-based Palestinian resistance groups.

"Following 6 hours of indiscriminate rocket fire at Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces has resumed operational activities against Hamas," army spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted.

The Israeli army said via Twitter that the decision to resume airstrikes had come as a result of the launch of 47 rockets by Hamas since 9am local time.

Israeli daily Haaretz quoted an unnamed official source as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the army to resume striking targets across the coastal enclave.

"After Hamas and Islamic Jihad refused Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire and fired dozens of rockets at Israel, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon ordered the army to carry out forceful strikes against terror targets in Gaza," the unnamed official was quoted as saying.

Egypt had proposed a ceasefire between Gaza-based resistance factions and Israel, starting 6am Tuesday.

Israel's security cabinet earlier Tuesday accepted the proposal, while deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouq said the group was still considering it.

The initiative calls on Israel to cease all hostilities in the Gaza Strip, halt all ground operations, and refrain from targeting civilians, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

It also calls on Gaza-based Palestinian factions to cease all hostilities against Israel, halt rocket fire and cross-border attacks and stop targeting civilians.

The overture further calls for reopening Gaza's closed border crossings and facilitating the movement of persons and goods in and out of the coastal strip.

At least 194 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1400 others injured in unrelenting Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip since Monday of last week.

Gaza-based resistance factions, for their part, have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities in response to the ongoing Israeli attacks.

No Israeli fatalities have been reported thus far as a result of rocket fire from Gaza.