RAMALLAH: On Tuesday, representatives of several armed factions in Gaza attended a meeting called by Hamas. In exchange for Israel's discontinuation of all military operations in Gaza, including the ongoing blockade, militia leaders pledged their willingness to engage in a ceasefire. Within minutes of the announcement two rockets from Gaza exploded in vacant fields in southern Israel, Ha'aretz reported. On Monday, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon condemned the rocket fire and urged Israel and armed Gazans to exercise restraint. “Both sides should do everything to avoid further escalation and must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians at all times," said a statement released by the UN Secretary General's office. The latest round of fighting broke out when Gazan militants fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli military jeep in Gaza on Saturday. In response, an Israeli tank shelled a mourning tent in Gaza City, resulting in the immediate death of four Palestinians and injuries an additional 26. The Palestinian death toll reached 7 this morning when a 20-year-old man died from injuries sustained in the tank attack on Gaza City. On Sunday, the Ezzedeem Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a communiqué claiming it was targeting Israeli military sites around the Gaza Strip in response to Israel's killing of civilians. Over 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Saturday. Four injuries and no deaths have been reported. Israeli media sources reported that a rocket landed in the yard of a civilian home in Netivot in southern Israel.
