WEB DESK

The Israeli forces carried out its largest daytime air strike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war yesterday as Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel throughout the day. Two Palestinian teenagers were killed in an airstrike in Gaza City, while three Israelis were wounded from a rocket that landed on a residential home. Twenty-five people were wounded across Gaza, authorities said.

“The (military) has struck Hamas with the hardest blow since Operation Protective Edge and we will intensify the strength of attacks if necessary,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned.

Two Palestinian boys, aged 15 and 16, were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Witnesses said Israeli warplanes dropped four bombs on a building in Gaza City. The boys were nearby and hit with shrapnel.

However, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said a ceasefire had been reached late in the day. He said, the Islamist movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, had agreed to an Egyptian offer to return to a ceasefire to stop this escalation. An Israeli military spokesman declined to comment, but said its actions would depend on what happens on the ground.
Tensions have been building between Hamas and Israel for months over mass protests and clashes along the border fence. The protests have called for Palestinian refugees to return to their former homes now inside Israel.

Since the protests and clashes broke out along the border on March 30, at least 141 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.