Israel-Hamas fighting eases along Gaza border, Israel moves up tanks and troops

Palestinian policemen loyal to Hamas stand guard at the site of a Hamas-run insurance office after it was destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City March 26, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Cross-border fighting between Israel and Hamas abated on Tuesday after a day of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes, but Israel said it reserved the right to strike again and kept its troops and tanks massed at the Gaza frontier.

The biggest Israeli-Palestinian escalation in months, which began on Monday with the longest-range Palestinian rocket attack to cause casualties in Israel for five years, appeared to have been curbed overnight by Egyptian mediation.