Israel - Gaza: Ceasefire Broken, Hamas Also Involved in Conflict

(Patria) - Israel carried out new attacks on Gaza after projectiles were fired from that direction towards Israeli territories during the night, breaking an already fragile ceasefire.

A statement from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 'two rockets were fired towards Israeli territory', and that both were intercepted by the 'Iron Dome' defense system.

However, this time the IDF's retaliatory strike did not target the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad (with whom the exchange of fire had been ongoing for the past 4 days), but Hamas, the political and militant group that governs Gaza and with whom Israel had reached a ceasefire earlier this year.

The IDF statement stated that 'the IDF considers Hamas a terrorist organization responsible for everything happening in Gaza', and that 'Hamas will bear the consequences for actions against Israeli civilians'.

The new exchange of fire occurs two days after the conflicting parties – Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza – reached a ceasefire agreement mediated by Egypt, ending the most intense conflict in recent months in that part of the region.

Hamas has not claimed responsibility for the rockets fired on Friday night into Saturday, but it is still unclear who is behind the actions.

As a reminder, on Tuesday, Israel bombed the house of an Islamic Jihad commander, the second most powerful Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas. In a targeted strike, Baha Abu al-Ata, who was called a 'ticking time bomb' and held responsible for multiple attacks in recent months, was killed. Immediately after, Islamic Jihad retaliated with strikes against Israel, firing more than 450 rockets. The Israeli 'Iron Dome' defense system intercepted more than 90% of the rockets, according to Israeli military sources.

In just a few days of conflict, 34 Palestinians lost their lives, almost half of them civilians. One such attack flattened a house and killed a family of eight, including 5 children. Besides injuries caused by shrapnel, there were no casualties on the Israeli side, writes the British Guardian.

After a turbulent night, Saturday morning dawned without explosions or sirens.