Hamas, Israel resume attacks after brief truce
Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed in deadly earnest Thursday, after a brief humanitarian ceasefire allowed Gaza residents to restock and hunker down, and as efforts towards a lasting truce intensified.
A rocket fired from Gaza hit southern Israel exactly as the UN-requested five-hour lull ended at 3:00 pm (local time), and the military resumed its air strikes on the besieged Palestinian territory, killing three children in a strike in the heart of Gaza City, according to medics. World leaders have called for a swift end to the bloodiest conflict in Gaza since 2009, with Israel’s operation to stamp out rocket fire so far killing 234 Palestinians and cross-border fire from Gaza killing one Israeli.
As hostilities resumed following the brief lull, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency said it had found some 20 rockets stored in one of its vacant schools in the Gaza Strip, calling it was a “flagrant violation” of international law and condemning the “group or groups” responsible.
With regional efforts to broker a lasting ceasefire gathering pace in Cairo, an Israeli official said the Jewish state had agreed a truce with Hamas to begin at 0300 GMT Friday. However Hamas, the Islamist movement which is the main power in Gaza, denied any deal had been struck.
“The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP in Gaza. Another Hamas spokesman, Ihab Ghussein, said there were talks and contacts under way but dismissed reports of a deal.
“The killing by the Israelis should stop before talking about any ceasefire,” he told AFP.