Israeli ceasefire in Gaza
August 4, 2014
The latest attempt at a truce took effect at 0700 UTC on Monday, but its prospects of success appeared dim, given the fact that it was only partial and that the Islamist militant group Hamas reacted to the announcement by expressing skepticism about Israel's intentions.
"The calm Israel declared is unilateral and aims to divert attention away from the Israeli massacres. We do not trust such a calm and we urge our people to exercise caution," Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said.
The ceasefire is only a partial one, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to continue their operations in and around the southern Gaza town of Rafah. Israel has also warned that it will only hold its fire as long as Islamist militants refrain from launching rocket attacks at the Jewish state
"If the truce is breached, the military will return fire during the declared duration of the truce," a defense official cited by the Reuters news agency said.
Just hours before the ceasefire was to take effect, an Israeli air strike killed a senior commander of the militant group Islamist Jihad, Daniel Mansour. An IDF spokesperson said that intelligence indicated that Mansour had been responsible for the coordination of rocket attacks on Israel.
UN school attack criticized
The ceasefire announcement came a day after an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza killed 10 Palestinians, drawing condemnation from both the UN and the United States, among others.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described the attack on the school in Rafah, where around 3,000 Palestinians had sought refuge, as a "moral outrage and criminal act."
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was "appalled" by the attack and called for a "full and prompt" investigation. "Israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casualties," Psaki said.
Israel said on Sunday that it had targeted three Islamic Jihad militants near the school.
Gaza officials said around 1,800 people have been killed, most of them civilians, since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza on July 8. More than 60 Israeli's have been killed, most of them soldiers.
pfd/kms (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)