The Saturday's salvo brought up to 525 the number of rockets fired from the Palestinian enclave at Israel since the collapse on Tuesday of a temporary ceasefire with the Palestinian factions, the military said on Twitter. The army did not state the locations where the rockets fell, or whether they left any injuries or damage. Violence flared up again on Tuesday between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip following the collapse of indirect, Egypt-hosted talks aimed at reaching a permanent ceasefire deal. Israel accused Palestinian factions of violating a temporary ceasefire (which expired on midnight Tuesday) – a claim denied by resistance faction Hamas, which in turn accused the self-proclaimed Jewish state of attempting to derail the talks in Cairo.
Since hostilities began on July 7, at least 2100 Palestinians have been killed – the vast majority of them civilians – and more than 10,000 injured by Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip.
Thousands of homes in Gaza, meanwhile, have been destroyed by relentless Israeli bombardments. Over the same period, at least 68Israelis – 64 soldiers and four civilians – have been killed, according to Israeli figures.
By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout