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Israel renews air strikes on Gaza after rocket fire

(Xinhua)    16:42, August 08, 2014
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JERUSALEM, Aug. 8 -- The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck several targets in Gaza Friday morning in response to barrages of rockets launched from the strip towards southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said in a statement.

"This morning, following renewed rocket launching at Israel, the IDF targeted terror sites across the Gaza Strip," Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner, the IDF spokesperson said in the statement.

"The IDF remains alert and maintains a high level of preparedness with both defensive and striking capabilities in order to address the renewed aggression," the statement said.

"The renewed rocket attacks by terrorists at Israel are unacceptable, intolerable and short-sighted," it added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to "respond forcefully" to barrages of approximately 20 mortars and rockets which were launched from the strip towards southern communities, including Sderot, Eshkol Regional Council and Ashkelon.

The barrage was fired several minutes after a 72-hour ceasefire expired. The ceasefire started at 8 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Tuesday and expired on Friday. During that time, Israeli and Palestinian delegates negotiated via Egyptian mediators towards a permanent truce agreement. However the talks seemed to be at a standstill as the fighting resumed Friday morning.

Attempts were made throughout Thursday night to extend the 3- day ceasefire, during which the parties will continue negotiations through the Egyptian mediators. The Israeli delegation returned to Israel at 7 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), an hour before the fighting resumed.

Hamas threatened on Thursday and early Friday it will launch rockets into Israel once the ceasefire expires. Two rockets were fired at 4 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), but Hamas denied any connection to the attack.

Sources in Egypt told the Ha'aretz daily that there are significant gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian stands. Hamas demands ending the Israeli blockade, opening the passages into and out of Gaza, building a sea port and airport in the strip and releasing 56 Hamas members from Hebron, arrested by Israel in a military operation in the West Bank in June, following the kidnap and killing of three Israeli teens near Hebron.

Israel is willing to have the Palestinian Authority or other international factors oversee the passages into Gaza and ease the blockade but objects to the sea port and airport demands and insists Hamas will be disarmed and the strip demilitarized, a demand which Hamas rejects.

More than 1,800 Palestinians were killed and nearly 10,000 injured in the month-long Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians. Nearly half a million Palestinians are displaced and great damages were caused to infrastructure.

Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed during Israel's ground incursion to the Gaza enclave, and three civilians were killed in rocket attacks, as Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions fired nearly 3,000 rockets across communities throughout Israel for the past four weeks.

(Editor:Kong Defang、Huang Jin)

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