Hamas says it will 'preserve truce' after rocket fire

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas group ruling the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday it has deployed forces to "preserve the truce" after rockets fired from the enclave hit Israel.

"National security forces have been deployed in order to preserve the truce" arranged by Egypt that came into force on Nov 21, 2012, interior ministry spokesman Islam Shawan told AFP.

He spoke after militants in the Palestinian enclave fired at least one rocket late Monday into the Jewish state, which reported neither casualties nor damage.

On Sunday, two Palestinians were hurt, one critically, in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, which the military said had targeted a senior Islamic Jihad militant.

That strike, the third in 12 hours, came a day after militants fired another rocket at southern Israel, prompting a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Over the past month, tensions have risen in and around Gaza after a year of relative calm, with four Palestinians and an Israeli killed since Dec 20.

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