Israel kills at least 10 in Gaza as truce unravels

A days-old truce announced by Gaza militants appeared to be fast unraveling after at least 10 people were killed and 30 wounded in Gaza in 24 hours of Israeli airstrikes. Rising tensions in and around Gaza kicked off early Wednesday, just days after militant groups said they would stop cross-border rocket fire, with Israel quietly agreeing to limit its strikes to those caught in the act. But an airstrike on Rafah early Wednesday which killed Islamic Jihad militant Ismail al-Ismar sparked a flurry of retaliatory rocket attacks, followed by further Israeli raids, rendering the truce agreement meaningless. Islamic Jihad said Thursday it would call off its rocket attacks if Israel first halted its airstrikes, which have killed nine, at least two of them militants with Islamic Jihad’s armed branch, the Al-Quds Brigades. “If Israel stops its attacks, the Palestinian resistance will stop firing rockets,” spokesman Daoud Shihab said, saying the group did not want “an escalation.” The truce announced Sunday night had been respected by militant groups including Islamic Jihad until Israel chose to break it, he said. “The last targeting in Rafah started the new crisis. Israel broke the truce when they killed one of the local leaders of the Al-Quds Brigades. After that, the Brigades answered this aggression,” he said.  “The truce is related to Israeli action. If Israel stops their operations, Palestinian resistance will stop firing rockets.” Earlier, Israeli Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor said Israel was ready to respect the tacit cease-fire agreement as there was calm along the border. “We will not jeopardize the calm if the other side does the same. But we will not wait to act while we are being shot at and people are dying,” he said. “I hope this message will be understood.” Since the strike that killed Ismar, militants have fired around 20 rockets into Israel and another ten Palestinians have been killed in subsequent air raids. Robert Serry, the UN’s Middle East envoy who had worked with Egypt to set up Sunday’s truce, expressed “deep concern” over the threat to the cease-fire. He called on both sides to act immediately “to prevent any further escalation,” a statement from his office said. Ghazi Hamad, deputy foreign minister in Gaza’s Hamas-run government, said the situation could easily spin out of control.  “There are no guarantees that the situation is under control, no guarantees that the firing will be stopped,” Hamad said.