DHAKA: Israel has hit the Gaza Strip with missiles and artillery for the first time in three days, while Palestinian fighters launched a barrage of rockets at Israel, just hours after a ceasefire between the two sides expired.
At least three air strikes have hit different parts of Gaza so far on Friday. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from Gaza City, said. Civilian casualties were reported in a strike on the north of the territory.
The Israeli army said 18 rockets were fired into southern Israel after the truce ended at 8am local time (05:00 GMT). Two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, while 14 fell in open areas, it said. Two other rockets reportedly landed in Gaza.
"Following renewed rocket launching at Israel, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) targeted terror sites across the Gaza Strip," a statement from the military read.
Thousands of Palestinians fled their homes east of Gaza City amid the renewed Israeli attacks, witnesses reported.
The ceasefire expired as no progress was made in the Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at finding a durable solution to the month-long fighting.
Talks among the main Palestinian factions in Cairo were still ongoing, sources told Al Jazeera, just after they announced their refusal to extend the 72-hour truce.
Representative from Palestinian factions, including from Hamas, the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Islamic Jihad, had been meeting in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators on extending the ceasefire.
"All the Palestinian factions, including Hamas, have agreed not to renew the ceasefire because [Israel] is refusing to accommodate our demands, but negotiations continue in Cairo," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told the AFP news agency.
Israel, whose representatives were also present for the talks in the Egyptian capital, had said it was ready to "indefinitely" extend the ceasefire.
The Palestinian side laid out a number of demands, starting with the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on Gaza. They also want the release of around 125 key prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Source: Al-Jazeera
** Rockets fired from Gaza violate cease-fire
BDST: 1444 HRS, AUG 08, 2014
