Palestinians say killings make truce 'null and void'
A Syria-based Palestinian faction said today that its truce with Israel was over following a missile strike by Israel that killed at least two Hamas militants in Gaza.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command denounced the missile attack as a “treacherous crime” that would not go unpunished.
“The truce is null and void,” the group said in a statement, and called on Palestinians to continue their resistance and uprising.
At a meeting in Cairo in March, Palestinian militants had declared a halt of attacks on Israel for the rest of this year, their longest ever cease-fire promise.
The PFLP-GC statement criticised Israel for still controlling Palestinian border crossings, airspaces and water despite its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip earlier this month.
Another Damascus-based group, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also denounced Israel’s missile strike as a “massacre” aimed at sabotaging internal Palestinian cohesion.
In today’s attack, Israeli aircraft fired five missiles at two cars carrying Hamas militants in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City, witnesses and officials said.
There were conflicting reports on the number of casualties. The Palestinian Interior Ministry said two were killed, while medical officials and radio reports said four were killed. Nine people were wounded.
The escalation was set off by an explosion yesterday at a Hamas rally in the crowded Jebaliya refugee camp in which at least 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.
Hamas blamed Israel for the blast and said it fired rockets on Israeli border towns in retaliation.
However, the Palestinian Authority held the Islamic militants responsible, saying they apparently mishandled explosives, and renewed demands that armed groups stop flaunting their weapons in public. Israel denied any involvement.
Hamas said it respected the cease-fire but maintained it has the right to respond to alleged violations by Israel.
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