Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that Israel had sent a message through secret channels to the Hamas-led Palestinian government warning of large-scale operations if Palestinian militants continue rocket attacks on Israel, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported on Wednesday.

"Israel has sent a message to high-ranking echelons of the Palestinian government through secret channels," Peretz told the Knesset (Parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Wednesday, according to the report.

The message warned that if more rockets were fired by Palestinian militants on Israel, the Israeli army would carry out serious operations, said Peretz.

The defense minister also said that the message to the Hamas- led government proved to be effective as the Palestinian militants halted firing rockets at Israel for Tuesday, according to the report.

"It has been quiet over the past day that rockets weren't fired at (the southern Israeli city of) Sderot. Apparently, the message we relayed was effective, and Hamas ordered its people to halt the launch of rockets," Peretz was quoted as saying.

The Israeli army carried out an air raid on Tuesday near Gaza City, killing nine civilians and two Palestinian militants who were on their way to fire rockets.

Rockets have been raining down on Sderot and the western Negev desert since last Friday after a Gaza beach explosion killed seven Palestinian civilians.

The Palestinians held Israel responsible for the incident, but the Israeli side denied on Tuesday any involvement.

An Israeli investigation said that the Gaza beach bloodshed was not caused by an Israeli artillery shell, but probably by an explosive device buried in the sand.

Israel has declared cutting off all direct contacts with the Palestinian government since Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, took power in late March.

Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruct, has refused to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.

The group called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel in the wake of the Gaza beach incident.

Source: Xinhua