Israeli Civilian Is First Death From Gaza Rocket Fire

Israeli taking cover — Israelis take cover on the side of a road as a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets outside the northern Gaza Strip July 15, 2014. Reuters

An Israeli civilian was killed by a rocket fired from Gaza, Israel’s military confirmed Tuesday -- the first death on the Israeli side since Operation Protective Edge began last week.

Update: The Israeli civilian who was injured at the Erez crossing has died of his wounds.
- IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) July 15, 2014

Israel resumed targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip Tuesday after the militant group decided against signing on to an Egyptian-proposed cease-fire. Israel didn’t conduct any airstrikes in Gaza for six hours, but restarted its campaign after Hamas fired more rockets into Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had no choice but to respond to rocket fire with airstrikes, Reuters reported.

"It would have been preferable to have solved this diplomatically, and this is what we tried to do when we accepted the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire, but Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it," Netanyahu said Tuesday in a televised address.

About 190 Palestinians, including roughly 150 civilians, have died from Israeli airstrikes that began last week.

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