Israel air strikes kill 5 in Gaza
Friday, 8 August 2014
Israel resumed air strikes in Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets following the end of a three-day truce Friday morning.
Five people were killed in Gaza, while two Israelis were injured by mortars.
The Israeli army called the renewed rocket attacks "unacceptable, intolerable and short-sighted".
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, earlier rejected any extension of the truce, saying Israel had failed to meet its demands, according to a news agency.
Israeli government officials said they had pulled out of Egyptian-brokered negotiations with Hamas and the other Palestinian factions in Cairo, stressing they would not "negotiate under fire".
But Egypt called on both sides to return to the negotiating table.
The border area didn't feel particularly safe this morning, and several kibbutzim were still virtual ghost towns as more than 36 rockets and mortars were fired from Gaza.
But that, perhaps, is part of the Hamas strategy. They don't want Israelis to feel safe or comfortable as long as the blockade of Gaza continues.
While Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants live, penned in, barely able to make a living - so the argument goes - why should Israelis just across the fence feel any more secure?