GAZA CITY: Israel resumed air strikes in the Gaza strip on Friday after the Egyptian-mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the month-long war.
The strikes occurred after the Israeli army claimed that at least 18 rockets were fired by the Palestinian militant movement from Gaza into Israel.
“The renewed rocket attacks by terrorists at Israel are unacceptable, intolerable and shortsighted. Hamas’ bad decision to breach the ceasefire will be pursued by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces), we will continue to strike Hamas, its infrastructure, its operatives and restore security for the State of Israel,” an Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said in a statement.
The reports said that a boy was killed and six other persons were injured in the latest Israeli strikes.
One of the rockets allegedly fired by Hamas, one was intercepted by the Iron Dome system over the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon while two more rockets fell in open areas without causing casualties or damage.
Earlier in the day, a three-day ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas expired while the Islamist group refused to extend the ceasefire, saying Israel had failed to meet its demands.
