72-hour Gaza truce ends as talks fail
A 72-hour humanitarian truce brokered by Egypt between Israel and Palestine ended Friday after no deal was reached on finding a durable solution to the ongoing fighting.
Israel said its Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted a rocket over the Israeli town of Ashkelon just after the 72-hour truce ended at 8.00 a.m. Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
“Terrorists have violated the ceasefire,” the Israeli army said on its official Twitter page.
Two senior Hamas officials, accusing Israel of rejecting their demand for a truce, said the Palestinian movement would not extend the ceasefire.
A leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, present at the Cairo-mediated truce talks, confirmed that the factions had decided not to extend the ceasefire.
The Palestinian side laid out a number of demands, starting with the lifting of Israel’s eight-year-old blockade of Gaza.
They also demanded the release of 125 prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Since the Israeli military assault started in Gaza July 8, a total of 1,890 Palestinians have been killed.
According to the UN, 73 percent of the Palestinian victims were civilians of which at least 429 were children.
On the Israeli side, three civilians were killed by rockets fired from Gaza while at least 64 soldiers died in the fighting.