Hamas announces ceasefire as Israeli military resumes Gaza operations

Gaza strip's rulers announce '24-hour humanitarian calm' shortly after Israel calls off its own ceasefire following fresh rocket fire

Hamas has announced a 24-hour ceasefire in Gaza from 2pm local time on Sunday, just hours after Israel resumed its military operation following fresh rocket fire. There was no immediate response from Israel to Hamas's move.

"In response to UN intervention and considering the situation of our people and the occasion of Eid, it has been agreed among resistance factions to endorse a 24-hour humanitarian calm, starting from 2pm on Sunday [midday BST]," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

Ed al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and is one of the most important holidays in the Muslim calendar, begins on Monday.

Israel called off its own unilateral ceasefire earlier on Sunday after renewed rocket fire from Gaza. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said one of its soldiers was killed by a rocket on Sunday morning, bringing the total number of military deaths to 43. Three civilians have been killed in Israel; more than 1,000 Palestinians have died.

Following a 12-hour humanitarian pause in its bombardment on Saturday, Israel initially extended its ceasefire by four hours, and then a further 24 hours, until midnight on Sunday. However, in a statement on Sunday morning, the IDF said: "Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the IDF will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip."

Following the IDF's announcement, there were reports of three deaths in Gaza as Israeli tanks and artillery pounded targets along the coastal enclave, sending thick plumes of black smoke rising into the sky, according to Reuters.

The Islamic Jihad group said one of its field commanders was killed by tank fire near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, the Associated Press reported.

Explosions could be heard in Gaza City and there were reports of renewed shelling in eastern Gaza, according to AFP. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev wrote on Twitter: "Hamas again rejects a UN humanitarian ceasefire, Hamas responsible for the continuation of the fighting and the bloodshed."

Earlier Hamas, which rules Gaza, had said it would not countenance any ceasefire in which the IDF maintained a presence in Gaza and continued to destroy its strategic assets. Israel had said its forces would remain in Gaza to search for and destroy cross-border tunnels, the principal aim of the ground operation which began 10 days ago.

The confusing sequence of unilateral humanitarian ceasefires followed US secretary of state John Kerry's return to Washington on Saturday after failing to broker a long-term truce. The US, France, Britain, Italy, Germany, Turkey and Qatar called for an extension to the temporary ceasefire after a meeting of foreign ministers in Paris.

Following the meeting, the UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "The necessity right now is to stop the loss of life. And we stop the loss of life by getting this ceasefire to roll over for 12 hours, 24 hours or 48 hours – and then again until we have established the level of confidence that allows the parties to sit around a table to talk about the substantive issues."

The death toll in Gaza exceeded 1,000 on Saturday as around 150 bodies were pulled from rubble during the lull in bombing. Thousands of Gazans ventured out from homes and shelters for the first time in days to find that whole streets and neighbourhoods had been destroyed in the past week after Israel and Hamas both agreed to a UN request to cease military activity from 8am until 8pm.

Scenes of devastation were discovered by those who returned to areas that had been the centre of particularly intense fighting. Shortly before the ceasefire, at least 16 members of one family, including several children, had been killed in an air strike in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The family had recently fled there to escape fighting in a nearby village, according to a Palestinian health official.

Around 5,000 people took part in a protest against the war in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, with a heavy police presence to deter rightwing extremists who abused and attacked the demonstrators.

In London, tens of thousands of people protested against Israel's military campaign, making clear their anger outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, west London, before marching on to Westminster.

Condemnation of both Israel and Hamas has intensified. Former Labour foreign secretary Jack Straw described Israel's actions as amoral and deeply damaging to its own cause. "It is time for Israel to stop," he told the Observer. "Both because what it is doing is abjectly amoral but also in terms of its own self-preservation. Its actions are doing incremental damage to everything Israel is supposed to stand for."

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the Israelis were using sophisticated weaponry against innocent civilians when they could have deployed them in a more targeted way to limit loss of life.

But another former foreign secretary, the Tory MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, refused to single out Israel, saying both sides must agree an unconditional ceasefire. "I would like to see that, but it can't be observed by one side alone," he said.

Kerry had expressed confidence on Friday that there was a framework for a ceasefire agreement which could ultimately succeed, saying "serious progress" had been made, although he admitted there was more work to do. He has led international efforts to reach a truce along with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, while keeping in regular contact with the Turkish and Qatari foreign ministers, who have been acting as interlocutors with Hamas.

But there were also signals that if the ceasefire ended, the fighting could intensify. Israel's defence minister, Moshe Ya'alon, said: "At the end of the operation, Hamas will have to think very hard if it is worth it to taunt us in the future. You need to be ready for the possibility that very soon we will order the military to significantly broaden ground activity in Gaza."

The violence has spread to the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent days. Nine Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded as protests over the bloodshed in Gaza have erupted into clashes with Israeli security forces. The Palestine Liberation Organisation called for more demonstrations in the West Bank and said it was helping to try to secure a ceasefire deal.

At least 6,000 Palestinians have been injured in the war. The UN said more than 160,000 people had sought shelter in its buildings, with thousands more fleeing their homes to stay with relatives and friends in seemingly safer areas.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/27/israeli-military-resumes-gaza-operations