Hamas claims ceasefire reached with Israel after exchange of fire
Israel had launched retaliatory strikes after seven Israelis were injured in a rocket strike near Tel Aviv.
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, claimed that a ceasefire agreement had been reached with Israel on Monday night after exchange of fire, Al Jazeera reported. Israel is yet to comment on the reported truce.
“Egyptian efforts succeeded with a ceasefire between the occupation and the resistance factions,” Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said.
Monday’s exchange of fire began after seven Israelis were wounded in a rocket strike near a village north of Tel Aviv. Israel had blamed Hamas for the strike. The Gaza health ministry said five Palestinians were later wounded in retaliatory strikes, reported Reuters.
The reported ceasefire fire agreement comes after multiple rockets were fired from the Gaza strip towards Israel on Monday evening, according to a joint statement issued by Gaza’s armed groups. This was in response to Israeli air strikes that pounded Hamas positions in Gaza.
Less than an hour after the truce was announced, sirens in southern Israel warning of rocket fire were triggered multiple times and continued after midnight, The Times of Israel reported. Israel Foreign Ministry claimed Hamas had launched 30 rockets from Gaza since the reported ceasefire.
When asked if Hamas was responsible for rocket strike that injured seven people, the outfit’s spokesperson, Abdullatif al-Kanoo, told Al Jazeera that Israelis continued to impose a “crippling siege” on the Gaza Strip and “practise all kinds of aggression against Palestinians”. “Therefore, the Israeli occupation should bear the consequences of its actions against our people in Gaza and the West Bank and in Jerusalem, as well.”
The incident came 10 days after two rockets were fired at Tel Aviv by Hamas, the first time since 2014. Israel has long said it holds Hamas responsible for all violence from Gaza, controlled by the group since 2007.