Gaza official: ‘The current round of fighting is over, calm depends on Israel’

A command center for armed groups in the Gaza Strip says that the current round of fighting has ended, and that calm now depends on Israel.

“The current escalation in Gaza has ended. The resistance responded to the enemy’s crimes in Gaza. The continuation of calm in Gaza depends on the occupation’s behavior,” the command center says, according to Al-Jazeera.

The statement comes just minutes after the IDF said it hit 150 Hamas-linked targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for over 180 rocket and mortal shell attacks from Gaza since Wednesday.

The comment appears to be a Hamas attempt to restore calm after both sides appeared to be preparing for war. It is not immediately clear whether this signals a shift for Hamas after its massive rocket barrage on Israel since yesterday, or disagreement in the organization’s leadership about how to proceed.