The Hamas terror group reportedly said Thursday that efforts to reach a ceasefire with Israel had failed, warning Israel of “messages” to be sent within hours.
A source in the group was quoted by Lebanese Hezbollah-affiliated TV al-Mayadeen as saying Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi had left the territory after two days in which he brought cash to the Strip and tried to broker a ceasefire amid weeks of mutual attacks.
The source said the failure to reach a deal was due to Israel’s insistence on the equation of “calm in return for calm,” rather than “calm in return for an end to the blockade” of the Strip.
Gazans terror groups won’t let Israel “use the pretext of the balloons to bomb posts in the Strip,” the source was quoted as saying.
He added that “the coming hours will see messages to the Israeli occupation from the youth groups in the field.”
He said “the occupation should read these messages before things roll and slide into something broader than that.”
Balloons carrying incendiary devices from the Gaza Strip sparked at least 26 fires in southern Israel throughout the day, the fire department said Thursday evening.
Fire inspectors determined that the blazes were all caused by balloon-borne incendiary devices, the fire department said.
In recent days the IDF has responded to dozens of daily arson balloons and intermittent rocket fire with near-nightly reprisal strikes on Hamas targets in the Strip, including underground infrastructure; weapons production facilities; cement factories used to make parts for tunnel construction; and observation posts along the border.
Al-Emadi arrived in Gaza late Tuesday night, bringing $30 million in cash, seeking to ease the Israel-Hamas tensions that have led to daily arson balloon and rocket attacks on Israel and IDF reprisal strikes.
The money is earmarked to help the territory of two million people, half of whom live under the poverty line, sources close to the envoy told AFP.
Six rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards southern Israel early on Thursday morning shortly after the IDF struck targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist group in the Strip in response to the continued launch of incendiary and explosive balloons.
Sirens sounded on Thursday morning in the towns of Nahal Oz and Alumim.
Underground infrastructure and military positions belonging to Hamas were targeted in the strikes by tanks and IAF aircraft, according to the IDF Spokespersons Unit.
A number of incendiary and explosive balloon landed in southern Israel on Thursday, sparking at least 26 fires throughout the area.
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip have launched incendiary and explosive balloons towards southern Israel on a daily basis in recent weeks, sparking fires that have burned large swaths of land. A number of rockets have been fired towards the Gaza envelope as well.
The IDF has responded multiple times by striking sites belonging to Hamas and tightening economic restrictions on the coastal enclave.
The Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammed Al-Emadi entered the Strip this week to speak with Hamas leaders in an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
A source from terrorist groups in the Strip told the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news that the talks have failed as Israel insists on adhering to a "calm in return for calm" equation, while the terrorist groups insist on the blockade on Gaza being lifted.
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