Hamas armed wing calls off two-year truce

GAZA, (Reuters) – The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip  announced last night they were no longer committed to a  more than two-year de facto truce with Israel since the end of a  war in early 2009.

The statement was broadcast over a Hamas radio station after  Israel pounded coastal Gaza for two days with air strikes in  response to rocket salvoes and attacks on Thursday that killed  eight Israelis.

“There is no longer any truce with the enemy,” the statement  said in a move seen as paving the way for Hamas to escalate the  violence with Israel.