Qassams land in Israel despite Gaza ceasefire

Qassam rockets continued to land in Israel's southern and western areas on Sunday morning, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip went in effect, local Yedioth Ahronoth said.

A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza landed north of the southern town of Sderot, about an hour after the truce went into effect at 6 a.m. Sunday (0400 GMT). Another rocket fired at around 8 a.m. landed in an open area in the western Negev city, and a third was fired at the Negev a short time later.

So far no damage or casualties were reported, Yedioth Ahronoth said.

Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson's office announced that the IDF forces left north Gaza under the ceasefire.

Palestinian militant groups on Saturday agreed to stop launching rockets from the strip at Israel starting from 6:00 a.m. Sunday after their meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas then spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday evening and informed him that as of 6 a.m. Sunday morning, the Palestinian armed factions will cease firing Qassam rockets at Israel.

Olmert accepted the ceasefire proposal and said that if the Palestinians abided by the truce, Israel would halt military operations in Gaza.

It was also decided that should Israel fail to stop military incursions into Gaza, the Palestinian groups would meet to decide whether to renew Qassam attacks.

Source: Xinhua