Israeli army says Palestinian militants fire rocket from Gaza into Israel, testing ceasefire
CTV
Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a ceasefire was declared ending a five-day clash that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.
Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel on Sunday, less than 24 hours after a ceasefire was declared ending a five-day clash that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.
The ceasefire had appeared to be holding before Sunday's launch, which the army said landed in an open area of southern Israel. There was no claim of responsibility, and no immediate Israeli response.
But the launch presented an early test for the Egyptian-brokered truce.
The latest round of Gaza fighting was sparked Tuesday when Israeli jets killed three top commanders from the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to earlier rocket launches from Gaza. Those killings set off a barrage of militant fire and the conflagration threatened to drag the region into another all-out war until Egypt mediated a ceasefire that took hold late Saturday.
While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gaza's 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fuelled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip over the years.
In Gaza, residents surveyed the latest damage caused to their surroundings, with gaping holes left in the apartments serving as what Israel said were hideouts for the six senior Islamic Jihad members killed during this round. Gaza's main cargo crossing with Israel reopened Sunday after warnings that keeping it closed would force Gaza's sole power plant to shut down, deepening a power crisis.
Israel was gradually lifting restrictions on residents in southern Israel, which had borne the brunt of the rocket fire.
