Palestinian medics tend to a man wounded during Israeli air strikes in Gaza on June 23, 2012.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Rockets fired toward Ashkelon, Israeli military says
- Hamas said the truce started at 8 p.m. local time
- Palestinians say Israeli artillery fire killed a 4-year-old boy
- The IDF says the boy died from terrorist "ordnance"
But the truce got off to
an inauspicious start, with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) saying its Iron
Dome system intercepted five rockets fired toward the southern city of
Ashkelon. Sirens went off and several loud explosions were heard in the
area.
The cease-fire started at
8 p.m. (1 p.m. ET), according to Ayman Taha, a spokesman for Hamas --
the entity that runs the Palestinian territory of Gaza. It came after
three Palestinians died in violence on Saturday in Gaza, including a
4-year-old boy and a militant.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the truce. Earlier
Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Banny
Gantz, and other senior security and intelligence officers held an
"urgent" meeting over the violence.
Israel has been pounding
targets in Gaza because of sustained rocket fire into the country from
militants in the Palestinian territory. Militants have been firing
rockets to retaliate for the airstrikes.
Palestinian medical
officials said Israeli artillery fire from a tank at the Israeli-Gaza
border killed the 4-year-old boy and badly injured two other civilians.
The incident occurred east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces
spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich sent out a Twitter message saying
the explosion causing the child's death was from an "ordnance belonging
to one of the terrorist groups." Reports indicating that a Palestinian
child was killed by IDF activity are false, Leibovich said.
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Another drone attack on
Gaza City killed a militant on a motorcycle. At least 10 others were
wounded in the hit, which also damaged a nearby building. The militant,
Osama Mahmmoud Ali, is a member of the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades,
the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, which lost one
of its leaders in a similar strike Friday.
An Israeli drone killed
one man when it hit a militant group east of Beit Lahiya, in northern
Gaza, according to medical sources in Gaza. Another drone fired a
missile at a car in the Zeitoun neighborhood south of Gaza City,
injuring three people.
At least 12 others were
injured in three Israeli airstrikes overnight, medical officials said.
Also, a tank shell struck a parking lot in downtown Gaza City but did
not explode.
More than 15 rockets had
been fired into Israel on Saturday morning alone, the IDF said. The IDF
also said some rockets have been intercepted by the country's Iron Dome
missile system.
The IDF said its
airstrikes have targeted sites in response to the week's "continuous
rocket fire toward southern Israel. During the past week over 150
rockets hit Israel." The military said one of its strikes targeted a
"terrorist squad" in northern Gaza preparing to fire a rocket into
Israel.
The IDF said it "will
not tolerate any attempt by terrorist groups to target Israeli civilians
and IDF soldiers, and will continue to operate against those who use
terror against the State of Israel. The Hamas terror organization is
solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza
Strip."
Near the city of Sderot,
in Israel, a 50-year-old man was seriously injured when he was hit in
the neck with shrapnel from a rocket that exploded at a factory.
Alon Shuster, head of the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council in Israel, said citizens would not be forced out by the attacks.
"The residents of this
region who have tolerated this situation over the past 12 years will
continue to stay here. It is the government's responsibility to ensure
our safety, whether by a political or military action and not allow
these fictitious truces any longer," he said.
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