Rocket fire from Gaza has “made continuation of talks impossible,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, rejecting Palestinian charges that Israel was to blame for a breakdown in ceasefire talks in Cairo.
Spokesman Mark Regev responded to Palestinian negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed’s charge that Israel had thwarted the talks that broke down on Tuesday after Israel recalled its negotiators from Egypt, accusing Hamas of violating a truce.
“The Cairo process was built on a total and complete cessation of all hostilities and so when rockets were fired from Gaza, not only was it a clear violation of the ceasefire but it also destroyed the premise upon which the talks were based,” Regev said, according to Reuters news agency.
A week-long truce in Gaza collapsed with both sides blaming each other after Palestinian fighters launched rockets into Israel and Israel attacked “terror sites” inside the enclave.
Reporters at least six children had been killed in the airstrikes since the truce disintegrated.
“There is now this fallout row, essentially over who started it,” our correspondent said. “Whoever broke the truce, it seems the exchange of rocket fire into Israel and airstrikes on Gaza is unlikely to end today.”
The Israeli military launched attacks on at least 10 sites in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least three people, and recalled its team working on a permanent ceasefire with Palestinians in Cairo after three rockets landed in Israel.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that runs Gaza, said Israel had targeted Mohammed Deif, the head of its armed wing.
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