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Israel-Gaza conflict: Hamas agrees to new humanitarian truce to mark Eid celebrations Israel-Gaza conflict: Hamas holiday truce ignored by Israel as fighting continues on both sides
(about 5 hours later)
Militants in Gaza have agreed to hold a further 24-hour ceasefire to mark the anticipated start of the Muslim holiday Eid, just hours after the breakdown of an earlier truce. A 24-hour ceasefire proposed by Hamas in Gaza to mark the Muslim holiday Eid appears to have broken down after Israel said the militants could not be trusted.
The Israeli military, which resumed fighting this morning because of what it said was "Hamas's incessant rocket fire" over the previous truce period, is yet to confirm whether or not it will accept a new pause in the conflict. In a weekend where both sides offered each other truces only to see them rejected, Sunday evening saw a return to the rocket fire and missile bombardments that have seen more than 1,060 Palestinians and 45 Israelis killed in the conflict so far.
A Hamas spokesperson said it would stop fighting from 2pm (12pm BST) on Sunday. The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, capping the holy month of Ramadan, was expected to begin on Monday or Tuesday depending on the sighting of the new moon. Hamas said its various factions had agreed to hold fire from 2pm (12pm BST) ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was offering a humanitarian truce "in response to UN intervention and considering the situation of our people and the occasion of Eid". But appearing in interviews across the US media, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his army would not respect a Hamas-led truce when the group had breached their own just hours before.
Earlier, Hamas seemed to have rejected Israel's own ceasefire offer and continued firing rockets, leading Israel to resume its military offensive. “Israel is not obliged and is not going to let a terrorist organization decide when it's convenient to fire at our cities, at our people, and when it's not,” Mr Netanyahu said.
This afternoon Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, a spokesperson for the Israeli army, did not say if Israel would hold its fire during the time requested by Hamas, but said troops would continue demolishing Hamas military tunnels. Hamas resumed its own rocket barrage this afternoon, criticising what it described as “the lack of commitment” from Israel towards a break in fighting for humanitarian reasons.
Even before the military announced that it had given up on the earlier extended truce this morning, booming explosions across Gaza sent thick black smoke rising into the sky. The Palestinian Red Cross said an Israeli airstrike carried out after Hamas called a truce damaged a vehicle carrying city workers on their way to repair water pipes, killing one Palestinian.
A statement came later, saying: “Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the (army) will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip.” Also after Hamas called for a ceasefire, a rocket fired from Gaza lightly wounded one person in Israel, police said, while warning sirens wailed in a number of southern Israeli towns.
Palestinian witnesses said that the resumption of heavy shelling east of Gaza City saw at least three deaths across separate strikes. The resumption of fighting came after a 12-hour truce, on Saturday, negotiated by the US and UN in an intense period of diplomatic talks, was successfully observed by both sides.
The 20-day Israeli operation had already seen more than 1,050 Palestinians killed, the majority civilians, while 43 soldiers and three civilians have died on the Israeli side. Israel had then offered to extend the ceasefire a further 24 hours, but Hamas refused unless the army would withdraw its troops from Gaza entirely.
Mr Netanyahu was due to convene his cabinet later on Sunday to decide how to move forward, and at least one senior minister said Israel must step up its offensive. The military said it would not allow any truce to derail its highly popular campaign to destroy the network of secret tunnels zigzagging under the border with the Strip - which many in Israel now cite as more of an immediate concern than the rockets themselves.
“After what we saw this morning, it is clear we need to resume fighting with even greater force,” Communications Minister Gilad Erdan told Army Radio. Despite raised hopes towards the end of last week, there appeared to have been little progress from diplomats’ international efforts to secure a more longstanding end to the conflict.
Despite raised hopes towards the end of last week, there appeared to have been little progress from diplomats’ international efforts to secure an end to the conflict.
John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, flew back to Washington overnight after meeting in Paris with foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar.John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, flew back to Washington overnight after meeting in Paris with foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar.
During the lull in fighting inside Gaza on Saturday, residents flooded into the streets to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas, including Beit Hanoun in the north and Shujaiya in the east.During the lull in fighting inside Gaza on Saturday, residents flooded into the streets to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas, including Beit Hanoun in the north and Shujaiya in the east.
Israel hopes that the images of widespread desolation that have since emerged will persuade Gazans to put pressure on Hamas to stop the fighting for fear of yet more devastation.Israel hopes that the images of widespread desolation that have since emerged will persuade Gazans to put pressure on Hamas to stop the fighting for fear of yet more devastation.