A Palestinian lawmaker said on Sunday the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip has increased after frequent bids failed to peacefully free an Israeli soldiers held in Gaza.

"Under the shadow of Egyptian mediation moves, the pattern and strength of the aggression have declined but increased again after these efforts were obstructed," Azzam al-Ahmad, chief of Fatah lawmakers at the Palestinian parliament, told Voice of Palestine radio.

Al-Ahmad noted that the Israeli operations against the Gaza Strip had never stopped at all.

The Israeli army has been carrying out a comprehensive offensive against Gaza since late June after the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas' armed wing and two minor groups in a cross-border raid in the southeastern Gaza Strip.

The Jewish state said the offensive was aimed at getting back Shalit and halting rocket attacks on Israeli cities. It categorically rejected a prisoner swap proposed by the kidnappers.

As for a national unity government, al-Ahmad accused the governing Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of blocking all efforts to form the coalition.

"Hamas now acts as a stumbling block on the way of forming any national unity government," he said.

Al-Ahmad said that Hamas' stance was still inflexible in spite of ongoing contacts to formulate a unity government.

Efforts over forming a Palestinian coalition government aimed at lifting an international boycott on the current government led by Hamas movement have stalled as the group has repeatedly refused to recognize Israel, a key Western demand.

Source: Xinhua