GAZA, Sept 28: Israel fired more missiles into Gaza and knocked out power to thousands of Palestinians on Wednesday in an offensive against cross-border rocket volleys by militants two weeks after its withdrawal from the territory.

No rocket launchings were reported during the day after a pledge by militant groups to halt attacks condemned by the Palestinian Authority (PA) as harming the national interest.

The air raids came hours after Israel’s army fired artillery shells into the Gaza Strip for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war, aggravating tension on the fifth anniversary of a Palestinian revolt. No casualties were reported.

Renewed violence has dimmed hopes that Israel’s troop pullout from Gaza, completed on Sept. 12 under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for “disengaging” from conflict with the Palestinians, would improve chances for peace.

With little prospect for progress soon along a US-backed peace “road map”, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said a meeting set for Oct 2 between Sharon and President Mahmoud Abbas had been postponed. He gave no new date for the summit.

Mr Sharon, locked in a contest with rival Benjamin Netanyahu for leadership of the right-wing Likud party, has hit back hard against Gaza militants firing rockets into Israel.

He wants to counter hardliners’ accusations that he has damaged Israel’s security by pulling out of Gaza after 38 years of occupation. His tough response may have given him a boost, with polls showing him taking a commanding lead over Netanyahu.

Before dawn, Israeli aircraft launched missiles at four militant targets in and around Gaza City, destroying the offices of a leading Fatah militant and two other militant groups, Israeli military sources and Palestinian witnesses said.

They said a fifth missile fired later destroyed a bridge in the north Gaza town of Beit Hanoun.

In separate strikes, Israeli aircraft fired missiles into open fields in northern Gaza “for deterrent purposes”, an Israeli military source said. Israel Radio described the action as being aimed against rocket launchers.

NO CASUALTIES: Residents of Beit Hanoun told Reuters they wanted militants to stop firing rockets into Israel so that economic reconstruction could begin after numerous Israeli ground raids in the past five years of violence.