Shortly before an unofficial ceasefire was due to take effect, Palestinian terrorists fired rockets in the direction of Tel Aviv and the Ben Gurion International Airport, as well as on a whole host of communities in the Gaza area. The salvo, which appears to have ended without Israeli casualties as well as with successful Iron Dome interceptions, came as both Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad remained mum on the approaching ceasefire after three days of fighting.
Earlier in the day, multiple outlets reported that Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group have agreed to a truce in Gaza from Sunday evening as mediated by Cairo.
This comes after a weekend-long pounding of Palestinian targets by Israel triggered longer-range rocket attacks against its cities.
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An Egyptian security source said Israel had agreed to the proposal, while a Palestinian official familiar with Egyptian efforts said the ceasefire would go into effect at 8 p.m. local time.
Spokespeople for Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the terrorist group it has been fighting in Gaza since clashes erupted on Friday, did not confirm this, saying only that they were in contact with Cairo.
The flare-up, recalling preludes to previous Gaza wars, has worried world powers. However, it has been relatively contained as Hamas, the governing Islamist group in the Gaza Strip and more powerful force than Iranian-backed PIJ, has so far stayed out.
Gaza officials said 31 Palestinians, at least a third of them civilians, had so far been killed. The rockets have paralyzed much of southern Israel and sent residents in cities including Tel Aviv and Ashkelon to shelters. Israel said it has not targeted civilians and some of the casualties on the Palestinian side were caused by failed rocket launches.
On Sunday morning, PIJ extended its range to fire toward Jerusalem in what it described as retaliation for the overnight killing of its southern Gaza commander by Israel - the second such senior officer it has lost in the fighting.
"The blood of the martyrs will not be wasted," PIJ said in a statement. The salvo came as religious Jews were fasting in an annual commemoration of two Jerusalem temples destroyed in antiquity. Israel said its Iron Dome interceptor, whose success rate the army put at 97%, shot down the rockets just west of the city.
"An eye for an eye." Israel put the onus was on PIJ to stop shooting. "Quiet will be answered with quiet," an army spokesman said.
In another potential flashpoint, Jews marking the Tisha Be'av fast visited the site where their ancient temples once stood - the Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City.
Israel launched pre-emptive strikes on Friday against what it anticipated would be an PIJ attack meant to avenge the arrest of a leader of the group in Judea and Samaria several days earlier. Arrest sweeps against the group have continued in that territory.
The hundreds of rockets fired by PIJ in response are the reason for the continuing operation, according to Israeli security cabinet minister Gideon Saar.
"To the extent that PIJ wants to protract this operation, it will regret it," he told Israel's Army Radio.
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