Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas allegedly violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt.

Hamas had already rejected the proposal, saying it was not consulted and would not halt fire without a broad deal that included concessions it has sought.

The Zionist nation carried out at least four airstrikes on Tuesday afternoon, resuming raids after a truce that failed to get off the ground, AFP correspondents and eyewitnesses said.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner says that after holding its fire for six hours Israel has “resumed operational activities.”

The military claimed about 50 rockets were fired from Gaza all over Israel during the six hours. No injuries were reported.

The de-escalation period was meant to lead to detailed cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas and end a week of fighting that has killed more than 192 Palestinians and exposed millions of Israelis to rocket fire from Gaza.

Israel accepted the Egyptian truce plan, but vowed to hit Gaza hard if Hamas rejected the deal.

An AFP correspondent reported one airstrike east of Gaza City, and eyewitnesses reported a second in the center of the city.

Witnesses also reported strikes in Nusseirat in central Gaza as well as in the Khan Yunis area in the south.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.

The raids came shortly after Israel’s army announced it was ending a cease-fire it had observed under the terms of an Egyptian truce proposal.

“Hamas has fired 47 rockets since we suspended our strikes in Gaza at 9:00 a.m. As a result, we have resumed our operation against Hamas,” the army said on its official Twitter account.

“Following six hours of indiscriminate rocket fire at Israel, the IDF (army) has resumed operational activities against Hamas,” military spokesman Lt. Peter Lerner said on his Twitter account.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior Israeli official told AFP that the military had been ordered to “act forcefully.”

More than 192 people have been killed in Gaza over the past week as Israel has waged a relentless air campaign against Hamas.

In response, Hamas army have fired more than a thousand rockets into Israel where no one has been killed in the current confrontation.

 
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