Gaza City residents return to streets on first day of Eid as Hamas ceasefire ends

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/28/gaza-city-residents-streets-eid-hamas-ceasefire

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Gaza remained relatively quiet following the end of the unilateral ceasefire called by Hamas at 2pm on Monday, despite warning sirens across southern Israel and three Israeli air strikes earlier in response to rocket fire.

Amid hopes that a de facto ceasefire would prevail, people returned to the streets of Gaza City on the first day of Eid, the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. However, outlying neighbourhoods such as Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya were deserted apart from Israeli tanks.

A seven-year-old boy was killed in tank fire in northern Gaza on Monday morning, bringing the total number of dead Palestinians on the 21st day of the conflict close to 1,040. More than 6,000 people have been injured.

An Israeli soldier was wounded by sniper fire, the military said. Forty-three soldiers and three civilians in Israel have been killed.

The Israeli air strikes in the morning were the first since 9.30pm on Sunday. Following the end of the Hamas ceasefire, sirens sounded in southern Israel and there were reports of rockets falling on open ground.

The Israeli media has reported that the military was implementing a "return fire only" policy in Gaza, but would respond to renewed rocket fire. Israel's chief military spokesman, Brigadier General Motti Almoz, told Israel Radio: "The IDF [Israeli Defence Forces] is free to attack after any fire if there is any."

Pressure on both sides to halt the fighting increased overnight when the United Nations called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, a demand echoed by the US president, Barack Obama, in a telephone call to the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

The calls followed a series of unilateral ceasefire announcements by both sides, each of which was rejected by the other amid mutual blame and recrimination.

A presidential statement issued by the UN security council just after midnight in New York called on the parties to the conflict "to accept and fully implement the humanitarian ceasefire into the Eid period and beyond" and "to engage in efforts to achieve a durable and fully respected ceasefire, based on the Egyptian initiative".

It noted "grave concern regarding the deterioration in the situation as a result of the crisis related to Gaza and the loss of civilian lives and casualties" and called for Israel and Hamas to respect international law.

Netanyahu said on Monday that the UN statement did not address Israel's security needs.

Obama told Netanyahu of his concern at the rising number of civilian deaths and urged an immediate, unconditional ceasefire.

Saying the US backed a ceasefire plan tabled two weeks ago by Egypt, Obama stressed the importance of "ensuring Israel's security, protecting civilians, alleviating Gaza's humanitarian crisis and enacting a sustainable ceasefire that both allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives and addresses Gaza's long-term development and economic needs, while strengthening the Palestinian Authority".

But amid a confusing sequence of temporary ceasefires, there was little sign of a longer-term deal to end the military confrontation. The US secretary of state, John Kerry, returned to Washington at the weekend after his efforts to forge a ceasefire agreement between the two sides failed.

Khaled Mishal, Hamas's leader in exile, told PBS that Israel must end its occupation. "We are not fanatics. We are not fundamentalists. We are not actually fighting the Jews because they are Jews per se. We do not fight any other races. We fight the occupiers," he said.

In Egypt, former president Mohamed Morsi – who was overthrown in a military coup a year ago – praised the "resistance" in Gaza.

"Our compass is set on supporting Palestine against the usurping occupier and we are with any resistance against any occupier," Morsi said in a message posted on his official Facebook page. "A full salute to those who resist and to the revolutionaries."

Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which has been outlawed under the regime of new president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.