A six-month truce appeared shaky when Israeli aircraft blasted a car in the Gaza Strip following repeated Palestinian rocket attacks, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned he was losing patience with the rocket barrages on southern Israel.
The Israeli military said aircraft attacked an explosives-laden vehicle carrying militants preparing to fire rockets at Israel on Monday. The attack was near Beit Hanoun, a frequent launching ground for rocket squads.
The Islamic Jihad militant group said its members were in the car on a "holy mission."
It said the men escaped the blast, and that a passer-by was wounded.
At a meeting with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday, Olmert said the Palestinians would face severe consequences if the latest wave of rocket fire persists.
"The [rocket] attacks constitute a tangible threat to Israel. Israel cannot show restraint forever," Olmert said in a statement issued by his office.
Despite the truce declared last November, militants in Gaza have continued to fire the homemade rockets into southern Israel, though fewer than before then. But in recent days, the rocket fire has increased.
The truce almost completely halted Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, but continued rocket fire could provoke further Israeli military action and a collapse of the ceasefire.
The army said 14 rockets have been fired since Friday. One rocket hit a house early on Monday, damaging the building. There were no injuries.
Israel has grown increasingly concerned by arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip and the rocket fire. Senior military officials have called for a large-scale military operation in Gaza. However, similar operations since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 have failed to halt the rocket fire.
On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Israel should not rush into a military operation there.
"Gaza is turning into a terror nest. We know all this," Livni said. "It is the government's responsibility to hold an intelligent and comprehensive decision process."
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly condemned the rocket attacks, but has been unable to halt them. Ending the rocket fire is a key component of a new US proposal for easing Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement while also improving Israeli security.
The document proposes a timeline from this month to August that calls for Israel to remove many West Bank roadblocks and improve operations at Gaza's crossings. The Palestinians are asked to halt rocket fire from Gaza and weapons smuggling into the coastal strip.
In a meeting with his Fatah Party, Abbas urged Israel to cooperate with the plan.
The document is "a start to end the suffering of the Palestinian people," he said, the official WAFA news agency reported.
The Islamic Hamas, Abbas' partner in the coalition government, has rejected the document.
In Jerusalem, Olmert said he is still considering the US proposal and will finalize his position soon. He noted that Israel already has committed to some of the proposals, such as improving movement through Gaza's border crossings.
A scathing report issued last week by an official government commission that criticized Olmert for "very severe failures" during last year's war in Lebanon, has badly weakened the prime minister and caused divisions within the government.
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