Rockets Fly Into Israel, Israeli Military Claims Hamas Violated Cease-Fire

Hours before the end of the 72-hour cease-fire in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces reported that two rockets had flown into Southern Israel on Thursday night. The IDF is now claiming that Hamas violated the truce whose whole purpose was to allow for negotiations on a long-term agreement.

Earlier on Thursday, both Hamas and Israel vowed to resume fighting if their demands are not met. Hamas’ military wing, the Izz a-Din al-Kassam Brigades, promised to continue the war if the blockade on Gaza is not lifted. They rejected Israel’s proposal to disarm.

“We say to the enemy who is living in the delusion that he achieved his aims,” a Hamas member told Al-Jazeera in a video showing how the group was getting ready for the next round of fighting. “You are seeing the means available to the resistance, and you see that we are still here on the border, with all of our means, ready to stand with them in this campaign until we attain all of the terms of the resistance.”

On the Israeli side, they are prepared to pick up where they left if “quiet” is not kept. That is, if there are any rockets fired into Israel, the IDF would resume its operation. “They might reject an extension. If they attack us, we’ll respond in kind, as any government would,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Germany’s ZDF television.

The death toll in Gaza has now reached 1,886 after many bodies were pulled from the rubble during the temporary pause in fighting, according the Palestinian Health Ministry. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed during Israel’s “Operation Protective Edge”