Violence in the Gaza strip resumed after militants fired rockets at Israel Tuesday (Aug. 19), triggering retaliation efforts hours before a weeklong truce was set to end. At least 50 air strikes were launched into Israel, officials in the country reported.
“In response to Hamas’s violation of the truce, the prime minister and defense minister have ordered the IDF [Israeli army] to once more attack terror sites in the Gaza Strip,” an official said.
One airstrike on a Gaza home killed three people, a 2-year-old child and two women. Over two dozen Palestinians have been injured. A Hamas chief, his wife, and child are said to be among the dead, although their fatalities have not yet been confirmed.
Al Jazeera Reports:
Hamas is seeking an end to a seven-year Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has ravaged Gaza’s economy, while Israel wants guarantees that Hamas will disarm.
In nearly a week of indirect talks, Egypt appears to have made little headway in resolving the differences. Late on Monday, it secured a 24-hour extension to a temporary truce to allow more time for a last-ditch attempt to reach a longer-term deal.
An Egyptian compromise proposal calls for easing the blockade, but not lifting it altogether and opening the territory’s air and seaports as Hamas has demanded.
More than 2,000 people have been killed in renewed conflicts that erupted last month.
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