GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - An Israeli air strike Saturday against a Gaza rocket squad killed a Palestinian militant, the first death since Hamas militants formally declared an end to a six-month truce with Israel.
Meanwhile, a vessel carrying a delegation from Qatar and others sailed into Gaza City's small port Saturday, in defiance of a border blockade. It was the fifth such boat trips by activists since the summer.
Israel and Egypt closed Gaza's borders after the militant group Hamas seized control of the territory in June 2007. Since November, Israel tightened the blockade to pressure Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on Israeli border towns. However, sporadic fighting has continued, and Hamas declared Friday that it would not continue a truce that had taken effect in June.
On Saturday, Gaza militants fired three rockets and four mortars, according to the Israeli army. There were no reports of damages. An Israeli air strike at one of the rocket launching squads in the northern Gaza Strip killed a militant, said Palestinian medics and an Israeli army spokesman.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, identified the dead man as one of its fighters.
On Friday, Gaza militants fired four rockets toward Israel, the military said.
The two-man Qatari delegation who sailed into Gaza's port are from a government-funded body, the Qatar Authority for Charitable Activities.
"We are here to represent the Qatar government and people," said delegate Aa'id al-Kahtani. "We will look into the needs of our brothers in Gaza, and find out what is the most appropriate way to bring in (aid)"
Qatar has warm relations with Israel and Hamas, which has called on Arab countries to openly challenge Israel by sailing to Gaza, hoping to create a naval corridor between the coastal territory and the rest of the world.
Also on board the vessel were Israeli reporter Shlomi Eldar, a Lebanese reporter, Katya Nasser, from Arab channel al-Jazeera, and another Lebanese citizen.
The boat set sail from the Cypriot port of Larnuca overnight, decked with colourful Palestinian and Lebanese flags. It also carried symbolic humanitarian aid. Gaza's latest visitors are expected to stay in the territory overnight.
Israeli naval boats blocked an earlier attempt by a Libyan cargo ship to enter Gaza, laden with what Libyan officials said was aid.
