Palestinian militants of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades attend a rally marking the 41st anniversary of the foundation of the Fatah movement, in Ramallah, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2006

Four key Palestinian militant groups say they are ending a truce aimed at easing attacks on Israel.

In separate statements issued Sunday, Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees said they were no longer bound by the truce deal brokered last March by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Islamic Jihad also scrapped the deal, and said they had fired rockets early today into southern Israel.

In a separate development, gunmen in the Gaza Strip stormed a club for United Nations workers and blew up a hall where alcohol was served. There were no reports of injuries and no claim of responsibility.

A short while later, gunmen in Gaza kidnapped an Italian activist near Khan Younis, but later released him.