JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s military said it was observing a seven-hour unilateral humanitarian cease-fire.
Monday’s “humanitarian window” was set to last until 5 p.m., according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Israel said several rockets were fired into the country during its cessation of fire.
The Palestinians accused Israel of breaking the cease-fire less than two hours after it began, saying an 8-year-old girl was killed and some 30 people wounded in an Israeli strike on the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The cease-fire does not include Rafah, in southern Gaza, which has seen heavy fighting in recent days as Israeli troops continued to search for tunnels leading from the strip to Israel, the IDF said before the start of the humanitarian window.
Israel’s coordinator of government activities in the territories, Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, warned, “If the truce is breached, the military will return fire during the declared duration of the truce.”
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the international media that Israel was aiming to divert attention away from its “massacres.”
“We do not trust such a calm and we urge our people to exercise caution,” Zuhri said.
More than 1,800 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s Gaza operation on July 8, according to reports citing the Gaza Ministry of Health. Nearly 270,000 have been displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which assists Palestinians in Gaza.
