Gaza Truce Plan Crumbles

An Egyptian truce proposal for the conflict in Gaza unraveled Tuesday after the Islamic militant Hamas rejected the plan. Gaza militants launched scores of rockets at Israel, which after halting fire for hours finally responded with what Hamas security said were more than two dozen air strikes.

The speedy resumption of violence, less than a day after Egypt presented its cease-fire plan, illustrated that it will be harder than in the past to negotiate an end to Israel-Hamas fighting. A key difference to a previous truce in 2012 is that Hamas does not trust the current rulers of Egypt who deposed a Hamas-friendly government in Cairo a year ago.

Gaza militants fired about 125 rockets since the morning, when the truce was to have begun, the Israeli military said. In the evening, a quick barrage of 40 rockets fell over the course of a few minutes, one of which landed inside an empty school.

Tuesday's fire also resulted in the first Israeli casualty of the fighting. Israeli police said a man in his 30s was killed near the Gaza border when he was delivering food to soldi

Filed Under: egypt, gaza, hamas, israel, Proposed truce, rocket fire

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