Gaza truce mostly holds

A ceasefire announced by Hamas largely held yesterday after the most severe exchange of fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since a 2014 war,.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the blockaded Gaza Strip, said late Saturday a ceasefire had been reached with the help of Egypt and others, though Israel declined to comment.

The United Nations' Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov was in Gaza and "working with all concerned parties to de-escalate the situation," a UN official said on condition of anonymity.

In a press conference, he called on "everybody to step back from the brink".

Despite a few lower-level exchanges of fire, relative calm returned to the Gaza Strip.

In one incident yesterday, an Israeli aircraft fired at what it said was militants launching balloons carrying firebombs over the Gaza border fence. It was not clear if there were casualties.

Saturday saw dozens of Israeli air strikes, killing two Palestinians, while some 200 rockets and mortars were fired from the enclave at Israel. Twenty-five people were wounded across Gaza, it said.

Four Israelis were wounded when a rocket hit a house in the city of Sderot near the Gaza Strip, authorities said.

Hamas said it fired at Israel in defence in response to air strikes, which came after a soldier was wounded by a grenade along the Gaza border.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya said yesterday at the funeral for the two teenagers that the movement would challenge Israel with border protests until the blockade is lifted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had been hit with "the hardest blow" since a 2014 war.

Thick plumes of smoke had risen over parts of the Gaza Strip on Saturday as Israel hit dozens of targets it said belonged to militants, including a five-storey unoccupied building allegedly used by Hamas as a training facility with a tunnel underneath.

The army said the strikes targeted Hamas military facilities, including a battalion headquarters, training facilities and weapons storage areas.

Tensions have been building between Hamas and Israel for months over protests and clashes along the border fence. The two sides have already fought three wars since 2008.

Since the protests and clashes broke out along the border on March 30, at least 141 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.