Israel launched missile strikes that knocked out power to thousands of Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday as it pressed an offensive against cross-border rocket fire two weeks after its withdrawal from the territory.
No rocket launchings were reported during the day after a pledge by militant groups to halt attacks condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) as harming the national interest.
The air raids took place just hours after Israel's army fired artillery shells into the Gaza Strip for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war, further aggravating tension on the fifth anniversary of a Palestinian uprising.
Renewed violence has battered hopes that Israel's troop pullout from Gaza, completed on September 12 under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for "disengaging" from conflict with the Palestinians, would improve chances for peace.
With little prospect for progress soon along a US-backed peace "road map", Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said a meeting set for October 2 between Sharon and President Mahmoud Abbas had been postponed. He gave no new date for the summit.
In separate strikes, Israeli aircraft attacked open fields in northern Gaza "for deterrent purposes", an Israeli military source said. Israel Radio described the action as being aimed against rocket launchers.
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