Friday 8 August 2014

Gaza ceasefire ends as Israel reports rocket fire

Palestinian militant organisation Hamas has rejected any extension of
the three-day ceasefire in Gaza, which expired on Friday morning.

It said that Israel had failed to meet its demands, including the
re-opening of Gaza Harbour to shipping.

Several rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel as the ceasefire ended
at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT). Israeli forces have not yet responded
to the attacks.

Some 1,940 people have died in four weeks of fighting in Gaza.
Palestinian officials say at least 1,875 people have been killed since
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the stated
aim of halting rocket fire from militants in Gaza and destroying the
network of tunnels it said were used by militants to launch attacks
inside Israel.

The UN says 1,354 of those who died were civilians, including 415
children and 214 women.

Israel's government says 64 soldiers were killed, along with two
Israeli civilians and a Thai national. It also claims that about 900
Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting.

Ready for 'long war'

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Gazan militants had fired more
than 18 rockets at Israel since the end of the ceasefire on Friday
morning.

The military added that its Iron Dome anti-missile shield had
intercepted a rocket above the southern city of Ashkelon, while the
remaining rockets fell on open ground.

Palestinian militants had already launched two rockets toward Israel
three hours before the truce expired, the IDF said. Hamas has denied
firing them.

A Hamas military wing spokesman earlier called on Palestinian
negotiators holding indirect talks with Israeli negotiators in Cairo
to refuse any ceasefire extension unless its long-term demands were
met.

The spokesman said his organisation was ready for "a long war".

Israeli officials said earlier that they were willing to extend the
ceasefire, but Hamas, which controls Gaza, says there was a big gap
between the sides' positions.

Egyptian officials, who brokered the 72-hour ceasefire that began on
Tuesday, were working against the clock on Thursday to persuade both
sides to agree a long-term deal.

On Wednesday, Israeli officials said they had expressed their
readiness to "extend the truce under its current terms". But the
deputy political leader of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said: "There is
no agreement."

Hamas had been reiterating its calls for the lifting of the blockade
of Gaza, the release of prisoners and the end of the Israeli
offensive.

The Israelis, for their part, were sticking firm to their main demand
- the demilitarisation of Gaza. But the BBC's Sally Nabil in Cairo
says that this was met with a big "no" from all the Palestinian
factions.

On Thursday, the human rights group Amnesty International called for
an investigationinto what it said was mounting evidence that Israeli
forces had deliberately attacked hospitals and health professionals in
Gaza. The attacks have left at least six medics dead.

BBC

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