A five-hour cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was barely over when militants in Gaza launched another rocket into Israel on Thursday, Fox News reported.
The United Nations humanitarian truce, the second cease-fire in one week, began 10 a.m. Thursday and was meant to last until 3 p.m., or 8 a.m. local time. But as the truce ended, a rocket from Hamas militants landed in the city of Ashkelon at exactly 3 p.m. So far there are no reports of injuries and Israel has not responded to the attack, according to the station.
Hamas militants also launched three mortar shells into Israel's Eshkol community not long after the deal was struck. No injuries have been reported and Israel has also not responded to that incident.
The U.N. suggested the short cease-fire to allow supplies like food and water to be delivered to Gaza, Fox News reported. During the truce Palestinians in Gaza City were seen crowded around ATMs and at markets stocking up on groceries.
"The situation is likely to get worse because there is no clear way out of it," Moussa Amran, a 43-year-old money changer in the city, said according to the station.
A previous cease-fire was reached Tuesday after talks between Egyptian officials and Israel. The deal would have ceased the conflict for eight days and opened up border crossings with Gaza, but the deal was tanked six hours later when rockets from Gaza struck Israel.
Sameh Shukri, Egypt's foreign minister, told the Associated Press that attempts to negotiate a long-term truce are still in effect. He showed contempt for the "Palestinian factions" that refused to agree to the cease-fire.
The same day of the Thursday truce, three suspects were indicted for the murder of Palestinian teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir in east Jerusalem. The suspects allegedly kidnapped and burned him to death in retaliation for the killings of three Israeli teenagers last month, right before the current hostilities between Israel and Hamas began.
