JERUSALEM – Egypt announced that a cease-fire it brokered between terrorist groups in Egypt and Israel went into effect at 1 a.m. Tuesday, but several rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza exploded in Israel after the announcement.
“We are still following the situation in the South and we need to see how it develops and whether the [rocket] firing really stops,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz said Tuesday. “It’s not over until it’s over. Quiet will be answered with quiet, and fire will be answered with fire.”
Terrorist groups in Gaza launched a barrage of rockets at Israel March 9 after Israel assassinated Zuhir Mussah Ahmed Kaisi, leader of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces believed Kaisi was planning a terrorist strike in Israel.
As southern Israel was besieged by rockets for a fourth straight day on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was hitting back “strongly and decisively,” and its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system was intercepting many of the rockets coming from the Gaza Strip.
“The IDF is continuing to – strongly and decisively – attack the terrorists in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said Monday at the Knesset. “Whoever intends to harm our citizens, we will strike at him.”
Israel responded to the barrage of missiles with more than 30 attacks on rocket-launching sites and weapons facilities. At least 20 Palestinians, including two civilians, have been killed since the current violence began.
At least eight Israelis have been injured, two seriously, in the attacks by the PRC and Islamic Jihad. Hamas, which rules Gaza, has not launched missiles in the latest round of attacks.
At least two dozen rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel on Monday. The Iron Dome system intercepted at least eight fired at Beersheba and five at Ashdod.
One rocket fired Monday struck an empty kindergarten building, a day after a rocket landed in a school courtyard. Another one struck Gadera, located 24 miles south of Tel Aviv.
Also on Monday, rockets fired from Gaza struck the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, which has remained open throughout the hostilities. The crossing was closed for about half an hour before operations were continued. A truck and a van on their way to deliver goods to Gaza were hit, according to a statement by Israel’s coordinator of government activities in the territories.
“Despite the continuous barrage of mortars and artillery shells from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, the IDF and COGAT continue to honor Israel’s commitments to transfer goods through the Kerem Shalom crossing to the people of Gaza in an efficient and secure manner,” the statement said.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was “very concerned” by the new round of violence, saying that civilians on both sides are paying a heavy price.
Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would remain on alert against an attack from Sinai. The prime minister commended the security and intelligence services for the air strike that killed Kaisi and another member of the Popular Resistance Committee.
“We have exacted from them a very high price,” he said. “Naturally we will act as necessary.”
Netanyahu praised the success rate of the Iron Dome missile defense system and said the government would “do everything in our power to expand the deployment of this system” in the months and years ahead.
Netanyahu also lauded the residents of the southern Israeli communities for their resilience in the face of the rocket barrage. He met Sunday with 30 municipal leaders from the area and received their staunch backing.
“In the end, the strongest force at our disposal is the fortitude of the residents, of the council heads, of Israelis and of the government,” he said.
On Sunday afternoon, a rocket that landed in a residential neighborhood of Beersheba damaged 15 homes; another rocket that landed near a Beersheba school caused damage to the structure. Pieces of a rocket intercepted by Iron Dome also hit a car and a water pipe in the city.
The United States said it was “deeply concerned by the renewed violence in southern Israel,” U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said in a statement issued Saturday.
“We condemn in the strongest terms the rocket fire from Gaza by terrorists into southern Israel in recent days, which has dramatically and dangerously escalated in the past day. We call on those responsible to take immediate action to stop these cowardly acts.
“We regret the loss of life and injuries, and we call on both sides to make every effort to restore calm,” the statement concluded.
Egypt’s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Othman, who told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency Sunday that Egypt had been working to halt the escalation of violence between Gaza and Israel, called Israel’s offensive “unjustifiable and a breach to the truce sponsored by Egypt.”