Israel, Palestinians float Gaza ceasefire

---

JERUSALEM, Apr 10 (AFP): Israeli and Palestinian officials floated a ceasefire on Sunday to end an upsurge of violence in Gaza, as Israel warned of a stronger response if rocket fire from the coastal enclave continues. Speaking shortly after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near the southern city of Ashkelon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that any further attacks would be dealt with harshly. "If the criminal attacks against Israeli military and civilians continue, Israel will respond with even more force," he told public radio. But both Israeli and Palestinian officials expressed support for a potential ceasefire, after days of rocket fire and retaliatory Israeli air raids that have killed at least 18 people in Gaza. The flare-up came after an anti-tank missile fired from Gaza hit an Israeli school bus on Thursday, wounding two people, one of them critically. Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel was ready to end the confrontation, if Hamas and other armed groups stopped firing. "If they cease firing, we'll cease firing," he said, reacting to reports that the political wing of the Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, was ready for a truce. "We cannot tolerate firing" against Israel, said Barak, who has indefinitely postponed a trip to Washington in the face of escalating violence around the territory where Israel fought a devastating 22-day conflict in December 2008-January 2009.