An armed wing of the ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announced on Saturday that it had fired rockets on Israel, the first such Hamas attack since it agreed on a truce about 16 months ago.

Izzel-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, an armed splinter group of Hamas, also announced that Saturday's rocket firing was a response to the Israeli killings of seven Palestinian civilians on a Gaza beach on Friday.

The group also said that it was just the start of rocket firing, vowing more such attacks on Israel.

Hamas, which formally calls for Israel's destruct, took control of the Palestinian government in late March after winning the January Palestinian legislative elections by a landslide.

The group had largely abided by a de facto ceasefire with Israel since March 2005.

Palestinian witnesses said that the deadly Friday incident was caused by an Israeli artillery shelling, but the Israeli army said it was too early to be certain of the cause, promising an investigation.

Source: Xinhua