Hamas will end truce with Israel

Thousands mourned Fawzi Abu al-Qara in the Jabaliya refugee camp

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has declared that it will not extend an informal ceasefire that expires at the end of this year.

A spokesman said the nine-month-long truce could not be renewed after Israel killed a leader of its military wing in an air strike in Gaza on Tuesday.

Thousands attended the funeral of Fawzi Abu al-Qara in the Jabaliya refugee camp on Wednesday.

Israel says it will continue its strikes until militants are disarmed.

Hamas has always reserved the right to hit back if Israel continues to target its members, but will not retaliate immediately, Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri told reporters.

"In the face of this Zionist aggression, no one should dream about the renewal of this truce," Mr Masri said.

"The quiet will finish at the end of this year."

Funeral

A jeep carrying Abu al-Qara, a leader of the Izz al-Din Qassam brigades, and Hassan Madhun, a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was destroyed by missiles as it travelled through the Jabaliya refugee camp.

Israel says it will continue to attack militants until they are disarmed

It followed a suicide bomb attack by Islamic Jihad in northern Israel last week.

As both men were buried on Wednesday in Jabaliya, gunmen fired into the air and shouted: "Death to Israel, yes to resistance!"

Israeli demands

Israel's Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, reacted to the Hamas statement by promising that his country would continue operations against militants in Gaza until Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas acted to disarm them.

"It is not our goal to continue this activity. It can end immediately," Mr Shalom told Israel Radio.

"If Abu Mazen [President Abbas] takes the strategic decision which he still refuses to take and acts against the infrastructure of terror... [Israeli activity] in Gaza will end the same day."

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the AFP news agency that the US government backed Israel's stance.

"We urge the Palestinian Authority to take action," he said.

"We certainly understand Israel's right and need to defend itself."