GAZA CITY, 25 April 2007 — The armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas yesterday declared a five-month truce with Israel over as it claimed to have fired dozens of rockets into the Jewish state on its Independence Day. Israel vowed to “confront terrorists” who fired the barrage, which caused no casualties or damage, on the 59th anniversary of the state’s creation.
Hamas said it was abandoning the Nov. 26 truce following Israeli Army raids over the weekend that killed nine Palestinians, including two teenagers and five militants, in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. “The truce no longer exists,” Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzeddine Al-Qassam Brigades, told reporters. “It’s the Israeli enemy that has not respected it and now it’s the turn of Palestinian groups.”
In a statement released in Gaza, the group said it fired nearly 30 rockets and 61 mortar rounds into the Jewish state as it marked Independence Day “to avenge the assassinations committed by the enemy.” It marked the first time that the armed wing of Hamas, the senior partner in the Palestinian coalition Cabinet, had claimed responsibility for rocket attacks since the truce took effect between the army and Gaza fighters.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said Israel bore the blame for the violence, after the deadly weekend army raids.
“There was a positive unified Palestinian position but, unfortunately, we were surprised by the expansion and escalation of aggression” by Israel, he told reporters in Gaza.
Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouthi, an independent in the unity Cabinet, also blamed Israel for yesterday’s rocket fire. “What is happening now is the direct result of the policy of Israel, which has carried out at least 128 incursions in the Palestinian territories these past several months,” he told AFP.
