Hamas has officially told Egypt that it rejects an Egyptian-proposed Gaza ceasefire, a spokesman for the Islamist group said on Wednesday.
"The outcome of discussions within the internal institutions of the movement was to reject the proposal and therefore, Hamas informed Egypt last night it apologizes for not accepting it," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
Hamas's armed wing had already spurned the Egyptian plan on Tuesday, and Israel, which briefly halted its Gaza offensive, resumed attacks after cross-border rocket fire from the Palestinian territory persisted.
More than 200 Palestinians have been killed in the week-old Israeli operations against militant groups in Gaza, whom Israel accuses of firing rockets at its territory.