Israel air strikes resume in Gaza amid rockets

BBC Online: Israel says it has resumed air strikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets following the end of a three-day truce on Friday morning. The Israeli army called the renewed rocket attacks “unacceptable, intolerable and short-sighted”. Palestinian militant group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, earlier rejected any extension of the truce, saying Israel had failed to meet its demands. Some 1,940 lives have been claimed in four weeks of fighting in Gaza. Israeli government officials said they had pulled out of Egyptian-brokered negotiations with Hamas and the other Palestinian factions in Cairo, stressing they would not “negotiate under fire”. But Egypt called on both sides to return to the negotiating table. The BBC’s James Reynolds in Gaza: “Will this be the start of a barrage of rockets or will negotiations continue?” The border area didn’t feel particularly safe this morning, and several Kibuttzim were still virtual ghost towns as more than 36 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza. But that, perhaps, is part of the Hamas strategy. They don’t want Israelis to feel safe or comfortable as long as the blockade of Gaza continues. While Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants live, penned in, barely able to make a living – so the argument goes – why should Israelis just across the fence feel any more secure? On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed its offensive on Gaza with aircraft, tanks and gunboats. A 12-year-old boy was killed in a strike near a mosque in Gaza City, Palestinian officials told the BBC. The IDF earlier announced it was striking “terror sites across the Gaza Strip” in response to renewed rocket fire. Militants began firing missiles from Gaza shortly before the ceasefire ended at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT). The IDF said more than 33 rockets and mortars had been fired at Israel on Friday, wounding two Israelis. Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system had intercepted three rockets and one had hit an empty house in Sderot, it added.