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Hamas renews rocket attacks on Israel, ignores ceasefire conditions

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Palestinian militants on Friday have renewed firing rockets and mortars into the southern region of Israel, injuring five civilians, the Israeli army press services said.
TEL AVIV, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinian militants on Friday have renewed firing rockets and mortars into the southern region of Israel, injuring five civilians, the Israeli army press services said.

The military said more than 15 rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip, striking the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Kiryat Gat. Israel's largest port, Ashdod handles approximately 60% of the county's marine cargo and has a population of 200,000, while Kiryat Gat has 50,000 inhabitants.

Five civilians were injured in the attacks, one seriously.

Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal rejected on Friday Israel's conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip at the opening of a summit for Arab and Muslim nations in Qatar's capital, Doha.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that Israel will only call a halt to its operations in Gaza if Palestinian militants stop firing rockets at Israel's southern territories and cease smuggling arms into the enclave of 1.5 million.

"We will not accept Israel's conditions for a ceasefire," Mashaal said.

Mashaal also said that "the aggression must stop and Israel must withdraw its troops and open border crossings into Gaza immediately."

The emergency summit was called in order to discuss measures to bring a halt to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip. The heads of state of Algeria, Comoros, Iran, Lebanon, Mauritania, Sudan and Syria attended the summit, while Djibouti, Iraq, Libya, and Turkey were represented by senior officials. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not attend.

Since the beginning of the operation on December 27, over 1,100 Palestinians have been killed, more than half of them civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel's casualties have been estimated at 13, including 10 military personnel.

Israel's extensive airstrikes and ground operations have caused $1.4 billion worth of damage to Gaza's economy and left 26,000 people homeless, the Palestinian National Authority announced on Friday.

Russia urged on Friday the international community to do all it could to put an Egyptian ceasefire plan into practice.

"The initiative that our Egyptian colleagues have proposed and continue promoting is optimal, and we believe everything possible should be done to support it," Sergei Lavrov said, reiterating an earlier proposal to hold a conference on the Middle East peace process in Moscow.

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