JERUSALEM, Dec 3: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert voiced concern on Sunday about Palestinian violations of a week-old ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, while militants accused Israel of not adhering to the truce.

In a statement released by the prime minister's office, Olmert said Israel “would not be able to hold back for much longer” if militants continued attacks.

If the ceasefire were to collapse, it would be a big blow to last week's high-profile diplomatic push by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to achieve some sort of breakthrough on long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the truce struck on Nov 26, 2006, Israel agreed to withdraw its troops from Gaza.

Since the agreement, over a dozen rockets have been fired into southern Israel, causing minor damage but no injuries.

However, Israeli troops have carried several operations in the West Bank, where a truce is not in effect, killing five people, including four civilians, and raiding several homes.

The Islamic Jihad threatened to strike inside Israel “in the coming hours” over what Abu Ahmed, a Gaza-based spokesman for the group, called “the attacks against our Palestinian people”.

He said the ceasefire was “on the verge of collapse”.—Reuters