IDF resumes fire in Gaza after Hamas fires
rockets into Israel • IDF death toll rises to 43, Palestinians report
over 1,000 deaths • "Hamas is cynically using the people of Gaza as a
human shield," Prime Minister's Office says after rockets resume.
Smoke rises after Israeli
tanks shell the Shujaiyya neighborhood in Gaza on Sunday
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Photo credit: EPA |
A Hamas spokesman declared on Sunday that the
group had agreed to a new 24-hour humanitarian truce starting at 2 p.m.
The declaration came hours after the previous humanitarian truce
collapsed, following a barrage of rockets fired by Palestinian
terrorists. Israel held its fire for several hours before responding
with shelling.
The Hamas declaration came one day before the start of the three-day Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.
According to Arab sources, shortly after the collapse of the truce, Hamas representatives approached U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry asking him to restore it. The reports suggested that Hamas had decided to forgo some of its initial cease-fire demands, chiefly the demand that Israel pull out its forces from Gaza.
According to Arab sources, shortly after the collapse of the truce, Hamas representatives approached U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry asking him to restore it. The reports suggested that Hamas had decided to forgo some of its initial cease-fire demands, chiefly the demand that Israel pull out its forces from Gaza.
Earlier, Gaza terrorists resumed firing
rockets into Israel late Saturday after Gaza's Hamas rulers, who have
demanded the lifting of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the
territory and the release of prisoners, refused to extend the truce.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet
decided to extend the calm until midnight on Sunday, on condition that
Israeli forces could continue to track down and destroy terrorist
tunnels that criss-cross the Gaza border.
Hamas rejected the proposal and said its
forces would keep fighting as long as Israeli troops remained in Gaza.
The Islamist terrorist group said it had fired at the Israeli cities of
Tel Aviv and Ashdod. No damage or injuries were reported.
Netanyahu was due to convene his cabinet later
on Sunday to decide how to move forward, and at least one senior
minister said Israel must step up its offensive.
"After what we saw this morning, it is clear
we need to resume fighting with even greater force," Communications
Minister Gilad Erdan told Army Radio.
The military said about a dozen rockets were
fired toward Israel since midnight -- without causing casualties or
damage -- and that as a result it would "resume its aerial, naval and
ground activity in the Gaza Strip."
"Once again Hamas is cynically using the people of Gaza as a human shield," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Shortly thereafter, clashes erupted between
Israeli troops and Gaza terrorists and the sounds of explosions echoed
across the coastal territory. The Islamic Jihad group said one of its
field commanders was killed by tank fire near the southern Gaza town of
Khan Yunis.
The 20-day war has killed more than 1,050 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials.
Israel has lost 43 soldiers in the fighting.
Two civilians and a Thai worker in Israel were killed by rocket and
mortar attacks from Gaza.
The 12-hour lull on Saturday -- agreed to by
both sides following intense U.S. and U.N. mediation efforts -- saw
Palestinians return to neighborhoods reduced to rubble and allowed
medics to collect close to 150 bodies, Palestinian health official
Ashraf al-Kidra said.
The Hamas rejection of a further lull
complicated the efforts of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and
European foreign ministers, who were meeting in Paris in hopes of
transforming the cease-fire into a more sustainable truce.
Israel launched its military operation on July
7 and later sent ground forces into Gaza to stop relentless rocket fire
and to destroy a sophisticated network of Hamas tunnels under the
border area.
The military says it is doing its utmost to
prevent Palestinian civilian casualties, including by sending evacuation
warnings to residents in targeted areas, and blames Hamas for putting
civilians in harm's way.
Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza have
fired more than 2,400 rockets at Israel since Operation Protective Edge
began, many deep into the Israeli heartland and toward most of the
country's major cities. Casualties on the Israeli side have stayed
relatively low thanks to Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system and
because residents have been vigilant about seeking shelter quickly upon
hearing the air raid sirens.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said any truce
must include a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and that tens of
thousands of displaced people must be allowed to return to their homes.
Israel's current terms are "not acceptable," he said in a text message
to journalists.
Israel's acceptance of the truce extension was premised
on its soldiers remaining in Gaza to destroy the more than 30 tunnels
the military says it has already found in the densely populated coastal
strip. Israel says the tunnels represent a strategic threat because they
allow Hamas fighters to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.
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