At 1200 GMT, the Israeli army announced it was resuming air strikes, after militants fired 47 rockets from Gaza.
Those raids hit Gaza City, southern Khan Yunis, Rafah and central Johr al-Deeq, and killed five people.
– ‘No choice’ –
“This would have been better resolved diplomatically… but Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it,” Netanyahu said Tuesday.
Later, the Israeli army said it was sending messages to residents of parts of eastern and northern Gaza, “requesting them to evacuate their homes for their own safety” ahead of new strikes.
The army issued similar messages to north Gaza residents on Sunday, causing the exodus of 17,000 people who took shelter in United Nations schools.
Overnight, Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing had rejected the Egyptian proposal for a truce to be followed by talks.
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the movement had not been consulted on the truce bid, and called the idea of halting fire before agreeing on terms “unacceptable”.
A top member of Hamas’s exiled politburo, Mussa Abu Marzuq, sounded a more cautious note, saying the movement had no official position on the proposal and discussions were continuing.
Hamas has said it wants the end of Israel’s blockade of Gaza and the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt as part of a truce deal.
It also wants Israel to free Palestinians it rearrested after releasing them in a 2011 exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than five years.
About The Author
