Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

    GAZA, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Several Palestinian factions on Saturday fired rockets into southern Israel territories as they wait an Israeli response to Egyptian ceasefire proposals.

    The factions, led by Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), accepted Egypt's meditation efforts to apply a lull in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to include West Bank.

    Israel is expected to hand its response to the Egyptian next week amid relative decreasing of its military operations.

    The al-Aqsa martyrs brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, fired a home-made rocket at Erez crossing in northern Gaza Strip.

    "The shelling comes in response to the ongoing Israeli military escalation," the group said in a statement sent to the press. The Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority officially supports the Egyptian initiative.

    Last night, the pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) claimed responsibility for firing two rockets into Sderot, a city located about one kilometer to northeast Gaza Strip.

    Two mortars shells were also fired at Nahal Oz fuel crossing in eastern Gaza city. The Islamic Jihad and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) said they carried out this attack.

    Hamas bids to boost the ceasefire were not encouraged by most of the other factions. However, they went to Cairo and discussed it upon an invitation by Egypt.

    Hamas routed pro-Abbas security forces and seized control of Gaza Strip in mid June.