Gaza militants refuse to discuss ceasefire

GAZA - Two Palestinian militant groups said Sunday they will not stop rocket attacks against Israel for now, as Gaza's Hamas rulers intensified efforts to restore calm.

Khader Habib, a senior Islamic Jihad leader in Gaza, said that his movement sees in the efforts of Egypt to restore calm and end violence "a clear Israeli need" for quietness.

It was too early for the Islamic Jihad movement to talk about ceasefire or truce, Habib said, "because the Israeli enemy escalates its aggression and the Palestinian resistance is required to respond to all Israeli crimes."

Smoke rises from an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip as seen from an area near the Israeli city of Ashkelon March 10, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

Habib held Israel responsible for the escalation of conflicts, which started on Friday when Israel killed the leader of the militant group Popular Resistance Committees and his assistant while they were driving in Gaza City.

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian orchard guard and a 12-year-old child, which marked the first two civilian fatalities out of the 18 people who have been killed since Friday.

For the Popular Resistance Committees, there is no ceasefire " before retaliating," said Abu Mujahed, a spokesman for the group.

"Israel violates the lull every time and then there are efforts to restore calm... we say that Israel has to endure the cost now," Mujahed said.

Taher Al-Nounou, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas government, said that his government has talked with Egypt and works to stop the escalation of conflicts, noting that Israel must stop all its military operations in Gaza first.