Hamas Unleashes Rockets on Israel After Breaking Ceasefire

August 8, 2014

2 min read

As the Egyptian-brokered 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas expired at 8 a.m. Friday morning, a barrage of rockets were shot towards Israeli community in southern Israel.

However, before the 8 a.m barrage, terrorists in the Strip broke the ceasefire at around 4 a.m. Friday morning then they fired two rockets into the Eshkol Regional Council.

Air raid sirens sounded in Ashkelon and the Hof Ashkelon and Eshkol Regional Councils. Within the first 45 minutes after the end of the ceasefire, at least ten rockets were fired from Gaza.

One rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system over Ashkelon. One rocket fell short inside Gaza while another landed near a Kibbutz in Eshkol. The remaining rockets exploded in open areas near the Gaza border.

“Since 8:00 AM, Gaza terrorists fired a barrage of 5 rockets at Israel,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Office confirmed at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. “Iron Dome intercepted 1 above Ashkelon; more rockets hit open areas.”

Ten minutes later, the IDF announced the additional firing of rockets.

The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Al-Quds Brigade, took responsibility for firing “three Grad rockets in Ashkelon,” the group said in a statement.

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Intelligence Services Minister Yuval Steinitz called on Israel to retake Gaza on Friday morning.

“Israel will respond powerfully to Hamas fire, and we will have to consider seriously the option of retaking the Gaza Strip in its entirety,” he said.

As terrorists in Gaza once again begin firing rockets on Israel, thousands of Palestinians who live east of Gaza City are said to be fleeing their homes in eastern Gaza, AFP reported.

On Thursday, the Palestinian delegation in Cairo, led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, announced that it would not agree to extend the ceasefire unless Israel gave in to the group’s demands.

Among the demands are lifting all transportation and import restrictions on Gaza, opening up borders, building a seaport and airport in Gaza, and releasing terrorists that were re-arrested by Israel since the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal.

“All the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have agreed not to renew the ceasefire because Israel is refusing to accommodate our demands, but negotiations continue in Cairo,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP.

Since the start of Operation Protective Edge, which began 31 days ago, terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired 3,308 rockets at Israel. Sixty-four IDF soldiers and three Israeli civilians have lost their lives during the war.

It is believed that some 2,000 Palestinians were killed in Gaza, roughly half of them terrorists belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

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