The radical Islamic Jihad movement said on Thursday that an Egyptian-brokered truce had gone into effect to halt a spiralling confrontation with Israel.

"An Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT)," Islamic Jihad spokesman Daud Shihab told AFP.

But an Israeli official said he was "not familiar" with any ceasefire arrangement.

"They understand that if the fire continues, the Israeli reaction will be very harsh, and the last thing the Islamic Jihad and Hamas want now is an escalation and deterioration," he told AFP.

Israel and militants of Islamic Jihad have been engaged in a standoff for the past 24 hours, with scores of rockets fired at southern Israel, and warplanes staging some 30 raids on targets throughout the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

So far, there have been no casualties on either side of the border.