Hamas agrees 24-hour truce as fighting resumes
Print Edition
HAMAS yesterday agreed to observe a 24-hour truce in Gaza after initially rejecting a similar Israeli offer, as fighting resumed and the two sides wrangled over the terms of a lull international diplomats had hoped could be expanded into a more sustainable truce.
After Israel announced a 24-hour truce on Saturday, Palestinian militants fired rockets deep into Israel, prompting it to resume an offensive aimed at destroying rocket launchers and cross-border attack tunnels used by Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling Gaza.
But hours after the renewal of hostilities Hamas said it would be willing to abide by a new 24-hour humanitarian truce ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday is expected to begin today or tomorrow, depending on the sighting of the new moon.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the truce would go into effect at 2pm yesterday. But shortly after it was to have started, warning sirens wailed in southern Israel and the military said three rockets landed in the area, without causing casualties or damage.
An Israeli army spokesman did not say if Israel would hold its fire during the time requested by Hamas, but said troops would continue demolishing militant tunnels — the central goal of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza.
Israel offered a 24-hour truce late on Saturday, but Hamas rejected it.
The 20-day war has killed more than 1,060 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has lost 43 soldiers, while two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker in Israel were killed by rocket attacks from Gaza.
The Israeli military earlier 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.” The military released a video showing a rocket being fired from what it said was a Gaza school.
“The military is aiming its fire at terror sites, but if citizens are accidently harmed Hamas is responsible for this since it once again violated an offer for a humanitarian lull that Israel accepted.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
The 12-hour lull on Saturday saw Palestinians return to neighborhoods reduced to rubble and allowed medics to collect close to 150 bodies.
More than 160,000 displaced Palestinians have sought shelter at dozens of UN schools, the UN said.
Hamas and other militants in Gaza have fired more than 2,400 rockets at Israel since hostilities began on July 8. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed hundreds of homes, including close to 500 in direct hits.
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