After rocket fire over Southern Israel was briefly resumed last night, Israel and Hamas eventually agreed to renew the cease-fire for an additional five days.
At about 9.50 pm last night, nearly two hours before the previous 72-hour cease-fire was due to expire, rocket alerts were heard in southern Israel in the region of Gaza and one rocket exploded onto open ground in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In total Hamas fired eight rockets at Israel while the Israel Air Force retaliated by hitting nine targets in Gaza.
One hour later, sources in Egypt reported that the cease-fire had been extended with Izzat Abdul Risheq, a member of the Hamas delegation to the truce talks, tweeting that the truce would be extended, "in order to continue discussions." Later, Hamas announced that the cease-fire was has been officially extended for 120-hours.
Earlier in the evening, it had been reported that the Israeli delegation had left Cairo and returned home for consultations. Several hours before the cease-fire had been due to expire, one Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip had announced that there had been progress in talks during the day in Cairo and that the sides were "very close to agreement."
Reports from Cairo say that the Israelis and Palestinians drafted understandings that apparently were acceptable to both sides. The understanding contained several changes to topics agreed to date.
The IDF had strengthened its forces along the border of the Gaza Strip in the afternoon and had readied for the possibility of renewed fighting when the previous cease-fire expired at midnight. Nine Iron Dome batteries around Israel were also placed on full alert. Defense air experts had been analyzing the results of missile interventions over the past months in order to improve future performance.
Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman had earlier called on the Palestinians to return the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in action - Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. He had said that if the two sides were unable to reach agreement and the fighting was resumed then Israel would have to move to decisive action. Meeting with heads of the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Liberman had said, "It's impossible to reach any peaceful arrangements without getting rid of Hamas. We must not finish this operation without the bodies of our soldiers being returned to Israel. If the terrorists on the other side don't realize this then they should understand that they will get the bodies of Mohammed Deif and Haniya and all the leadership in the Gaza Strip."
Minister of Finance Yair Lapid told the "New York Times" that any agreement in the Cabinet for an understanding with Hamas that was being hammered out could not take his support for granted.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 14, 2014
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