Pretoria: The South African Government Information Website, ironically called “SA News” published in headline: ” Truce cut short as Israel resumes attack on Gaza” but in the opening sentence of the South African Governments own article it clearly states: “Jerusalem – The Israeli military says it is resuming the offensive on the Gaza Strip, cutting short a temporary ceasefire after Hamas militants rejected the truce and continued to fire rockets at Israel”
Jerusalem – The Israeli military says it is resuming the offensive on the Gaza Strip, cutting short a temporary ceasefire after Hamas militants rejected the truce and continued to fire rockets at Israel.
“Following Hamas’s incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip,” a military notice said.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a 24-hour extension Saturday night to a just-ended UN-brokered 12-hour humanitarian truce in Gaza.
But Islamic Hamas movement said Sunday that any truce that does not guarantee a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip will not be accepted.
“Any humanitarian ceasefire that doesn’t secure the withdrawal of occupation soldiers from inside Gaza’s borders, allow citizens back into homes, and secure the evacuation of the injured is unacceptable,” Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, said in a statement.
The rocket fire from Gaza was resumed on Saturday night, with sirens sounding off in southern and central Israel, and continued on Sunday morning, with a fresh barrage on southern Israel. Overall, 25 rockets were fired at Israel since last night, according to the Israeli military.
One Israeli reserve soldier was killed on Saturday near the Gaza-Israel border, during the temporary ceasefire, after he was hit by a mortar shell fired from Gaza. He was mortally wounded by the shell and died of his wounds overnight.
The ongoing warfare between Hamas movement and the Israeli army in Gaza which started in July 8 has claimed the lives of more than 1,030 Palestinians. On the Israeli side, 46 people were killed, 43 of them were soldiers.
