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Israel carries out strikes on Gaza after rocket fire resumes

Posted at 6:01 AM, Aug 08, 2014
and last updated 2014-08-08 06:00:14-04

GAZA CITY (CNN) — For residents of Gaza and southern Israel, the fleeting period of calm is over.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on militant targets in Gaza on Friday in response to a barrage of rocket fire after a three-day truce in the region came to an end without a longer-term agreement.

More than 33 rockets were fired at Israel after the cease-fire expired Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces said. Most of the rockets hit unpopulated areas, but one moderately injured a civilian and lightly injured a soldier, the IDF said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered the military to respond forcefully to the resumption in rocket fire, Israeli officials said. The IDF said it “targeted terror sites across the Gaza Strip.”

Several explosions were heard in Gaza City as Israeli fighter jets flew overhead. Local media reported airstrikes elsewhere in the territory. One strike in Gaza City killed a 10-year-old boy, said Ashraf el-Qedra, a spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Hamas, the Islamic militant group that holds power in Gaza, said that Palestinian officials at peace talks in Cairo hadn’t agreed to extend the truce but would continue negotiations.

But Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN that the resumption of rocket fire means Hamas has “broken the fundamental premise of the talks in Cairo.”

The Israeli delegation arrived back from Egypt about an hour before the cease-fire ended, Israeli officials said.