Heavy rocket and mortar fire continued this morning at settlements in southern Israel and on the border with the Gaza Strip. One rocket was intercepted over Beersheva, another at Sderot, and three in the Ashkelon area. There have been no reports of injuries or damage. Several rockets fell in open areas in the Eshkol region. At 8:19 am sirens were also sounded in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ra'anana and Rishpon, but after twenty minutes IDF Home Front Command announced that these were false alarms.
The IDF attacked 35 targets in the Gaza Strip overnight. Two terrorists were hit in the northern Gaza Strip as they prepared to fire rockets. Two mosques that the IDF says were used as weapons caches and as meeting places for terrorists planning attacks were also hit. At around midnight, the Iron Dome system intercepted three rockets aimed at Kiryat Malachi.
Al-Jazeera reported this morning that, despite reports of an imminent cease-fire, the Palestinian factions had rejected the Egyptian proposal, and that there would be no cease-fire in the near future. Nevertheless, reports persist from Hamas and Islamic Jihad (but not from Israel) that the Egyptians are promoting a proposal for a one-month cease-fire. A spokesperson for Islamic Jihad told Palestinian news agency Maan that a cease-fire would be confirmed within the next few hours, based on understandings reached in the talks in Cairo. Osama Hamdan, who is responsible for external relations for Hamas, also said last night that intensive diplomatic efforts were underway to bring about a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, senior Hamas official Izat a-Rishak wrote on his Twitter account, "There is nothing new as far as a cease-fire is concerned. If there are developments, we will report on them immediately."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 25, 2014
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