JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants from Gaza fired rockets at cities deep inside Israeli territory Saturday, and Israel struck a squad that was firing mortars from Gaza as violence continued in the wake of an attack Thursday that killed eight Israelis, Israeli officials said.
Israel blamed a Gaza militant group, the Popular Resistance Committees, for Thursday’s attack and killed its top commanders in an airstrike later that day, igniting cross-border exchanges after months of relative quiet.
Hamas officials said they were in contact with international diplomats, including those in Egypt, to try to halt the Israeli attacks. But the Popular Resistance Committees and another group, Islamic Jihad, said they rejected outside efforts to restore the cease-fire.
At least 14 Palestinians, four of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since Thursday. The Associated Press
