DHAKA: The Israeli was killed in a rocket attack on an Israeli position near the Erez crossing with Gaza, the army said.

Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing said it carried out the attack.

It was the first Israeli death of the conflict after nearly 1,000 rockets and mortar rounds hit the Jewish state. Four Israelis have been seriously wounded.

The 38-year-old civilian had been delivering food to soldiers serving in the area, a spokesman for the Israeli emergency services said.

It came after Israel’s security cabinet said early on Tuesday it would accept an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire to begin, reports the NDTV.com.

But Hamas officials said they had not been consulted on the proposal and would not halt fire without a full-fledged deal including Israeli concessions.

Israel resumed a punishing air campaign against Gaza on Tuesday after its Palestinian foe Hamas rejected a truce and fired dozens of rockets over the border, killing an Israeli for the first time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the army would “expand and intensify” its Gaza operation after Hamas rejected the Egyptian truce proposal.

BDST: 1224 HRS, JULY 16, 2014