The main Palestinian fighter groups in the Gaza Strip, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have said they are ready for a ceasefire if Israel "stops its aggression" against the territory.

"The Islamic and nationalist movement confirm that the response of the resistance depends on whether the Zionist aggression against our people is continued," they said in a statement read out at a news conference in Gaza City on Monday.

The offer was made after fighters fired more rockets at southern Israel.

Monday's rocket fire was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Popular Resistance Committees.

The number of rockets fired represented a significant drop from Sunday, when dozens of missiles crashed into nearby towns, prompting a series of overnight raids in retaliation.

An escalation in violence since Saturday has claimed the lives of six Palestinians, as armed groups fired more than 115 rockets at Israel, wounding eight people.

On Sunday night, Israel carried out air strikes in northern and southern Gaza, and Palestinians began launching rockets into Israel from around 7:30 am local time.

An initial count of 11 rockets was later revised down to six by the military, with the same number confirmed by the police. Two were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system.

Act to stop it

Meanwhile, the Israeli top brass weighed a stronger response on Monday to the flare-up in violence.

Israel's top military officials were said to be weighing whether to launch a more serious response to the violence, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned that efforts to stamp out rocket fire would intensify.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, touring southern Israel with foreign diplomats, warned that "the world must understand that Israel has the complete right and the obligation to protect its citizens."

"We shall not sit with our arms folded in the face of repeated, almost daily, attacks on our citizens," he added. "We shall act to stop it."

US ambassador Dan Shapiro, writing on Facebook, has said "the United States supports Israel's right to defend itself and its citizens from these attacks."

On Saturday evening, fighters fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli army jeep, injuring four soldiers. The Israeli military hit back, killing six Palestinians, and wounding more than 30.

In light of the clashes, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday urged both sides to "refrain from exacerbating the situation."

PHOTO CAPTION

Six rockets were launched at southern Israeli communities on Monday, but two were intercepted by Iron Dome [EPA]

Aljazeera