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| Hamas announces new 24-hour Gaza ceasefire with Israel | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced a 24-hour ceasefire after Israel ended an earlier truce amid continuing rocket fire from Gaza. | |
| A spokesman for Hamas, which controls Gaza, said its ceasefire would start from 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT). | |
| Israel earlier resumed its military offensive in Gaza after a short pause, as Palestinian militants continued to launch rockets at Israel. | |
| Some 1,060 Palestinians and 46 Israelis have died in recent hostilities. | |
| Most of those killed in Gaza are civilians, Palestinian health officials say, while 43 soldiers and three civilians have died on the Israeli side. | |
| 'Incessant rocket fire' | |
| On Saturday, Israel accepted a UN request for a 24-hour ceasefire until the end of Sunday. It followed a 12-hour truce, observed by both sides on Saturday, which enabled Gaza residents to gather supplies and retrieve bodies buried under the rubble. | |
| However, the Israeli military announced on Sunday morning it had decided to resume its air, ground and naval raids on Gaza in response to "incessant rocket fire" from Hamas. | |
| The militant group had initially rejected the Israeli offer, saying it would only halt rocket attacks once Israeli troops left Gaza and the displaced were allowed to return home. | |
| But shortly after Israeli raids resumed, Hamas said it had decided to agree to a humanitarian truce. | |
| "As a preparation for the end of Ramadan and in response to the UN mediation and also regarding our people's living circumstances, we have agreed with all Palestinian factions to give a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire starting from 14:00 on Sunday," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement. | |
| Correspondents in Gaza said heavy explosions could be heard in several districts as Israeli forces resumed their air strikes. Palestinian eyewitnesses reported heavy shelling to the east of Gaza City. | |
| Eight Palestinians have died in Sunday's attacks, according to Gazan health officials. | |
| The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier said at least 20 rockets had been launched toward Israel since Saturday night, despite the truce. | |
| It added that a soldier was killed by mortar shell fired from Gaza early on Sunday morning. | |
| Israel launched its military offensive on 8 July with the declared objective of stopping Hamas firing rockets from Gaza into Israel. | |
| On 18 July, it extended operations with a ground offensive, saying it was necessary to destroy tunnels dug by militants to infiltrate Israel. |