PM Netanyahu is vowing a tough reaction if Hamas renews hostilities, as it has threatened to do at 8 a.m.
“They might reject an extension. If they attack us, we’ll respond in kind, as any government would,” he tells Germany’s ZDF television.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) gives an interview in his office, August 7, 2014. (photo credit: Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash90)
An Israeli defense official earlier said Israel would respond “forcefully,” and that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had instructed the military “to be ready for anything.”
Earlier, a text message from Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, warned there would be no extension of the ceasefire — set to expire in less than six hours — if there is no agreement to permanently lift the blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt since the terrorist group overran Gaza in 2007.
Abu Obeida, the al-Qassam spokesman, appeared on the group’s al-Aqsa TV station and says Hamas is “ready to go to war again… The resistance is capable of imposing its conditions.”
A security official in Egypt said Egyptian negotiators were struggling to bring the two sides closer together, with one official saying Hamas and other Gaza militants were refusing to compromise.
— Associated Press, Times of Israel staff
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Friday, August 8, 2014
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
