Hamas asks Egypt to pressure Israel to abide by Gaza truce

Deputy Head of the Political Office of Palestinian faction Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, on Saturday called on Egypt to put pressure on Israel to abide by the terms of an August 26 Gaza cease-fire deal.

“Israeli airstrikes on empty plots of land in southern Gaza are a major violation of the Egypt-mediated cease-fire agreement,” Haniyeh told reporters.

“The Palestinian people are resilient and are not intimidated by such brutal acts,” he added.

Israeli warplanes staged two airstrikes on empty plots of land southern the Palestinian enclave late on Friday, the first such strikes since August 26.

The strikes caused power outages in nearby residential areas as well as a wide state of panic among Palestinian civilians.

No casualties were, however, reported from the strikes.

The Israeli army, meanwhile, claimed that the air attacks were launched in retaliation for a rocket attack on southern Israel on Friday.

Israel’s 51-day offensive against the Gaza Strip left around 2,160 Palestinians dead and more than 11,000 others injured in July and August.

The offensive came to an end on August 26 after Palestinian factions signed a cease-fire deal with Israel under Egyptian mediation.