Israel Accepts Truce Plan; Hamas Balks; Cease-fire Ends
I’ve had to update this page. Hamas refused the cease-fire terms, and Israel has resumed defensive and offensive actions against Hamas in Gaza City. The cease-fire lasted just a few hours.
GAZA CITY — The Israeli military ended a unilateral cease-fire with Hamas on Tuesday and resumed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to escalate Israeli operations there in response to continued rocket attacks from the coastal enclave.
“After six hours of unilateral attacks by Hamas, the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] has resumed operational activity in the Gaza Strip,” the military said in a statement. It said that since Israeli forces suspended operations at 9 a.m. local time, “about 50 rockets were fired at Israel.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli official said that “following the refusal by Hamas and Islamic Jihad to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire and after the firing of tens of additional rockets into Israel,” Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, the IDF chief of general staff, “have instructed the army to operate with full force against the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza.” It was not immediately clear what was meant by the instruction to use “full force” against Gaza.
More: Israel ends cease-fire in response to rocket attacks from Gaza Strip