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Hamas Rejects Egyptian Cease-Fire Plan As Israel 'Intensifies' Air Assault On Gaza

Hamas Rejects Egyptian Cease-Fire Plan As Israel 'Intensifies' Air Assault On Gaza
Paul Vale
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The devastation of Gaza looks set to continue after Hamas dismissed a peace proposal, brokered by Egypt. The cease-fire, which was tabled and rejected within a day, led to a quick resumption of hostilities with militants within Gaza firing rockets into Israel, while the IDF continued the air strikes that have led to more than 190 Palestinian deaths over the past eight days.

The Egyptian plan, mooted on Monday evening, proposed a 12-hour de-escalation from Tuesday morning onwards. Israel agreed to the cease-fire plan, however Hamas, weary of the new regime in Cairo, rejected the plan, firing scores of rockets into Israel at the time the cease-fire was proposed to start. According to AP, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded by instructing the military to “act with intensity” against targets in Gaza.

The recent Israeli offensive against Gaza comes during a period of strained relations between Hamas and the Egyptian government, spurred by an increase in border security and the border blockade that prevents free travel between Gaza and Egypt. Hamas also complained that it was not consulted on the terms of the deal, suggesting that the plan was created by Israel and Egypt behind the back of the Gaza authorities.

Israeli troops remain amassed at the Gaza border, with Netanyahu threatening a ground invasion should the rockets into Israel not stop. Speaking on Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry reproved Hamas’ rejection of a cease-fire. "I cannot condemn strongly enough the actions of Hamas," he told reporters in Vienna.

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Gaza Air Assault
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Smoke from rockets fired from Gaza City is seen after being launched toward Israel, on July 15, 2014. (credit:THOMAS COEX via Getty Images)
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Smoke from rockets fired from Gaza City are seen after being launched toward Israel, on July 15, 2014. (credit:THOMAS COEX via Getty Images)
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The grandmother of four-year-old Palestinian girl Sarah Sheik al-Eid is comforted during her funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on July 15, 2014 after she was killed alongside her father and uncle in an Israeli military strike the previous day. (credit:SAID KHATIB via Getty Images)
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Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas militants violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas militants violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas militants violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A Palestinian inspects the rubble from a damaged house following an overnight Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini (C), along with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (unseen), visits the southern port city of Ashdod recently hit by rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, on July 15, 2014. (credit:DAVID BUIMOVITCH via Getty Images)
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A Palestinian looks at the damage to a house following an overnight Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Palestinian mourners carry the body of four-year-old girl Sarah Sheik al-Eid after she was killed along with her father and uncle in a Israeli military strike the previous day, during their funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on July 15, 2014 . (credit:SAID KHATIB via Getty Images)
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Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Mourners gather at a funeral at a mosque in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 15, 2014, for Sarah Omar el-Eid, 4, bottom, and her father, Omar, 26, center, and her uncle Jihad, 27, top. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Smoke from rockets fired from Gaza City are seen after being launched toward Israel, on July 15, 2014. (credit:THOMAS COEX via Getty Images)
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A crater from a Hamas rocket is seen in the front yard of a home on July 15, 2014 in Ashdod, Israel. (credit:Andrew Burton via Getty Images)
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A woman inspects the site after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants hit Ashdod, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. Israel, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Palestinian mourners gather for the funeral of Sarah Omar el-Eid, 4, her father, Omar, 26, and her uncle Jihad, 27, as their bodies are brought into a house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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A Palestinian looks at the damage to a house following an overnight Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Palestinians gather for the funeral of Sarah Omar el-Eid, 4, her father, Omar, 26, and her uncle Jihad, 27, as their bodies are brought into a house in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Mourners weep as a relative holds the body of Sarah Omar el-Eid, 4, as the bodies of her father, Omar, 26, and her uncle, Jihad, 27, are brought into a house during their funeral in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, July 15, 2014. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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