IT APPEARED that the latest round of cross-border violence was winding down yesterday as both Israeli and Hamas leaders in Gaza said calm would be met by calm.
The Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported that UN special co-ordinator for the Middle East Robert Serry had brokered a ceasefire, as the violence on both sides declined significantly. Only 12 projectiles were fired into southern Israel, and Israel refrained from carrying out air strikes throughout the day. Israeli attacks the previous two days left 18 people dead and 70 injured.
There was no official confirmation from either side of a truce but Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak said that restraint was also a form of strength.
“If they stop firing on our communities, we will stop firing. If they stop firing in general, it will be quiet.” His comments followed a statement from militant groups in Gaza that they would stop the rocket attacks as long as Israel ceased all military action.
However, the situation remained fragile and Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned of a harsh Israeli response if the rocket fire continued.
“If Hamas intensify their attacks, we will also intensify our force and our response will be much more severe.” The latest exchange was the deadliest since the Gaza war in December 2008 that claimed the lives of some 1,400 Palestinians. Israel stepped up its attacks after an anti-tank missile hit a school bus close to the border on Thursday.
Some 750,000 Israelis throughout the south were ordered to sleep in bomb shelters, and schools were closed.
Residents of two large cities in the south, Beersheba and Ashkelon, benefited from the deployment of Israel’s new Iron Dome missile defence system, which intercepted and destroyed nine incoming projectiles.
Visiting one of the batteries yesterday, Mr Netanyahu warned that “we can’t defend every house, facility and site in this country”.
Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa said the organisation would ask the United Nations security council to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza.