Israel keeps Gaza sealed off after rocket fire

Israel said on Sunday it was keeping border crossings with the Gaza Strip sealed off after rocket fire from the impoverished Palestinian territory.

Israel said today it was keeping border crossings with the Gaza Strip sealed off after rocket fire from the impoverished Palestinian territory.

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"This decision was taken after rocket and mortar fire on Saturday towards southern Israel," said Peter Lerner, spokesman for the coordinator of Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories.

The rockets fired from Gaza, which has been ruled by the Islamist movement Hamas since June last year, caused no victims or damage, Israeli police said.

A Gaza ceasefire in force since June has been rattled over the past few weeks by by a string of tit-for-tat attacks between the Israeli army and militants, who fired dozens of rockets against southern Israel.

An Israeli official said on Saturday that the government was willing to renew the truce with Hamas in and around the Gaza Strip if militants halt all attacks against the Jewish state.

Top defence ministry official Amos Gilad is due in Cairo on Sunday for talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and senior officials to discuss the renewal of the Egyptian-brokered deal, which is set to expire on December 19.