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Tenuous cease-fire reached in Gaza after IDF pounds Hamas posts

by  News Agencies , Gadi Golan , Ariel Kahana , Daniel Siryoti , Lilach Shoval and ILH Staff
Published on  07-15-2018 00:00
Last modified: 02-23-2021 13:53
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Terrorist rocket fire on Israel

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Gaza-based terrorists fired a massive rocket ‎barrage on Israeli border towns over the weekend, ‎triggering a powerful military response. The ‎skirmish was the worst flare-up on the Israel-Gaza ‎border since Operation ‎Protective Edge in 2014‎.‎

Color Red warning alerts wailed across the western Negev ‎area some 173 times over the weekend, as Hamas and ‎Islamic Jihad terrorists fired 200 mortar shells and ‎rockets into Israeli border communities.

The Iron Dome ‎defense system intercepted 30 projectiles headed for residential areas, while the rest hit opens ‎areas on both sides of the border, the IDF said.‎

Four Israelis, members of the same family, sustained ‎minor injuries when a Qassam rocket hit their building in Sderot. ‎

One of the rockets that hit the southern city of Sderot, Saturday Yehuda Peretz

The military bombed dozens of Hamas posts in the ‎Gaza Strip over the weekend, including ‏two terror ‎tunnels, the Hamas headquarters in Beit Lahiya, a ‎high-rise building in al-Shati refugee camp that ‎served as a ‎Hamas urban warfare training facility, ‎and dozens of smaller posts.‎

Palestinian health officials said that while the ‎building in al-Shati‎ was ‎empty, two Palestinians, ‎aged 15 and 16, were killed in a nearby public park and 10 others were wounded. ‎

‎"Hamas is the sovereign ruler in the Gaza Strip and, ‎as such, it will be held accountable for all that ‎transpires there," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said ‎in a statement.‎

‎"The IDF is prepared for a variety of eventualities in ‎Gaza and will intensify its response in accordance with the situation assessments and operational ‎needs," the statement said. "The IDF is determined to protect Israel's ‎sovereignty and its citizens."‎

Hamas' headquarters in Beit Lahiya before and after the IDF strike IDF / Twitter

An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and ‎the terrorist groups was achieved on Saturday night ‎and while it officially came into effect at 8 p.m., ‎four projectiles were fired at Gaza-vicinity communities ‎between 1 and 2 a.m. Sunday.‎

The Israeli Air Force retaliated by bombing the post where ‎two of the projectiles were launched. ‎

Hamas stopped short of claiming responsibility for ‎‎the rocket fire, but group spokesman Fawzi Barhoum ‎called it "an ‎immediate response by the resistance ‎to the ‎escalation by Israel.‎"

Barhoum ‎later confirmed a cease-fire had been ‎reached. He lauded Egyptian efforts "to restore calm ‎and end the ‎escalation."‎

In a separate statement, a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad also said that a truce had been reached.‎

On Sunday morning, the Homefront Command, which over ‎the weekend barred the residents of the Gaza-‎vicinity communities from holding mass gatherings ‎and instructed them to remain close to bomb ‎shelters, said residents could resume their normal ‎routine.‎

The Israeli communities that came under fire this weekend IDF / Twitter

Palestinian media reported Sunday that two people, apparently a ‎father and son, were killed, and a third person was wounded in a ‎‎"mysterious explosion" in a building in central Gaza. ‎

While some in the Palestinian media immediately ‎pointed the finger at Israel, the Hamas-affiliated ‎Al-Aqsa TV station attributed the blast to a "work ‎accident" – a term usually used to describe the ‎accidental detonation of explosives being prepared ‎by one of the terror groups in the Strip.‎

IDF is ready for any scenario

This weekend's military operation in Gaza was the ‎broadest since 2014.

Defense officials told Israel ‎Hayom that the objective of the operation was twofold – to restore Israeli citizens' sense of ‎security and send a message to Hamas that Israel was not deterred by Gaza rocket attacks.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot convened a ‎special situation assessment at the Southern Command headquarters ‎on Saturday. Senior officers who attended the meeting ‎said Eizenkot declared that the IDF could no longer ‎contain the aggression from Gaza, adding that Israeli strikes on terror ‎targets in the coastal enclave will continue unless ‎a diplomatic solution is devised. ‎

The Southern Command's 162nd Division, which was ‎scheduled to hold a large-scale exercise simulating a ‎ground incursion in Gaza City, has been ordered ‎to go ahead with the drill. ‎

If need be, its forces could be scrambled to the ‎border, one officer noted. ‎

A military vehicle fires tear gas at rioters near the Israel-Gaza border, Friday IDF Spokesperson's Unit

Still, IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis ‎told reporters Saturday that "while it is still too early ‎to speak of a full-scale military campaign in Gaza, ‎we are ready for one."‎

He added that the military had warned ‎Palestinians ‎to leave certain areas before the raids, saying, "We ‎have ‎no intention to harm anyone who is not a ‎terrorist. … We have to get Hamas to realize that ‎rocket fire is doomed to fail."‎

A senior IAF officer noted that "if Hamas opts to ‎widen the range of rocket fire, it will regret it." ‎

A top Southern Command officer added, "Only the ‎‎‎facts on the ground will dictate our future ‎‎‎response."‎

The fighting began on Friday, when thousands of ‎Palestinians rioted near the Israel-Gaza Strip ‎border as part of a Hamas-orchestrated campaign ‎launched on March 30. ‎

Rioters torched tires and hurled rocks, firebombs ‎and explosives at Israeli troops. One Israeli ‎officer was wounded when a Palestinian rioter launched a grenade ‎across the border fence.‎

Hours later, Israel launched an airstrike in Gaza, ‎to which Hamas retaliated with a rocket salvo.‎

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