ASHKELON, Israel—Egypt has mediated a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, according to Hamas officials, as an intense exchange of fire between the two sides halted Tuesday amid hopes that a wider war between them could be averted.
The development comes after an outbreak of violence, with Hamas launching more than 450 rockets since Monday afternoon and Israel responding with airstrikes.
The clashes followed what Israel said was an intelligence operation gone awry at the weekend in Gaza that left seven Palestinian militants and an Israeli military officer dead.
On Tuesday afternoon, the attacks ceased after Egypt negotiated the truce, said Hamas. Israel didn’t respond to requests for comment on the cease-fire. The Israeli government has refused to confirm or deny previous such deals agreed in Gaza but several hours of calm followed the announcement.
The agreement appears to be separate from efforts by Egypt and the United Nations to negotiate a more durable cessation of hostilities in Gaza. Until this latest round of violence, both sides appeared close to reaching a longer term truce that would allow more aid to flow into a collapsing Gazan economy.
In retaliation for Sunday’s raid, Hamas launched more than 450 rockets and mortars into Israel—the most since the 2014 war—striking residential buildings close to the border with Gaza in Ashkelon and Netivot. Israel’s military said its Iron Dome defense system intercepted more than 100 of the projectiles. In turn, Israel targeted over 160 Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, including the Al Aqsa TV station, which Israel’s government said was being used for incitement, and an internal security building.
Hamas’s military wing had earlier warned that it would expand its rocket campaign deeper into Israel if Israel “continues its aggression.”
Israel’s security cabinet met for nearly six hours on Tuesday to discuss the latest escalation, and issued a statement afterward saying it directed the military to continue operations as necessary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to balance preventing the fourth war with Gaza since 2007 with increased pressure from others in his cabinet to deal a decisive blow against Hamas, which rules Gaza.
Gideon Sa’ar, a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party on Tuesday told Israel’s Army Radio that the prime minister’s response has made Israel look weak and wouldn’t produce calm. He urged Mr. Netanyahu to hit Hamas harder.
Israel described its operation in Gaza on Sunday as a botched intelligence gathering mission.
Tensions between Israel and Hamas have flared since March, when Gazans began weekly protests at the border fence demanding the right to return to land that is now in Israel. Israel says such a move would threaten its Jewish majority. Israeli fire has killed more than 200 people since demonstrations began, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Israel says the weekly protests at the fence are often violent and that it must use live fire to protect its border from infiltrations and its people from attacks launched into Israel. Gazans have burned thousands of acres of Israeli farmland with improvised incendiary devices floated over the border on balloons and kites.
There have been several heavy exchanges of fire in recent months between the two sides, but the latest round was the largest and most sustained.
Four Palestinian militants were killed in the strikes, including two members of Islamic Jihad and two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Two others were also killed, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Israel said one was part of a squad launching projectiles into Israel.
At least one rocket directly hit an apartment building in Ashkelon Monday night, killing a 48-year-old Palestinian man and critically injuring two women.
Israeli authorities identified the dead man as Mohammed Abdel Hamid Abu Isbah from a village near Hebron, and said he had a permit to work and stay in Israel.
Shlomit Hayat, 38, who lives a few blocks away from the site of the rocket strike, said she doesn’t want war but isn’t sure there is an alternative.
“We are living in fear. We don’t sleep. We aren’t living. We must do something in order to make this stop,” she said.
--Abu Bakr Bashir in Gaza City contributed to this article
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
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