The armed wing of Hamas said it fired more than a dozen rockets and a barrage of mortar bombs at Israel on Saturday, formally ending a 16-month-old self-declared truce a day after seven Palestinians were killed on a Gaza beach by Israeli shelling.

The rockets, aimed at the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, caused no casualties. The Israeli army said all but four of the rounds landed inside Gaza.

Huda Ghalia, centre, is comforted during the funeral for her parents and siblings in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. They were killed by an Israeli army artillery shell on Friday.
(Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)

Hamas said its barrage, carried out in response to Israeli "crimes and the killings of civilians in Gaza," were "only the beginning" and that the range of the Kassam rockets would grow.

"The earthquake in the Zionist towns will start again and the aggressors will have no choice but to prepare their coffins or their luggage, the Izeldein al-Qassam Brigades said in a leaflet.

"The resistance groups ... will choose the proper place and time for the tough, strong and unique response."

Homemade rockets used

Israel said its attacks on Friday were aimed at areas from which Palestinian militants have launched homemade rockets at the Jewish state.

Of the 10 people killed, three were identified as Palestinian militants from Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip.

Among the seven Palestinians who died during the beach attack were five members of one family, including three children, as Israeli gunboats shelled the area. About 20 people were wounded, witnesses said.