Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 18, 2014
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 18, 2014
Israel braces for rockets before truce runs out
The Walla news site quoted Israeli military sources late Sunday to the effect that Israel is preparing for a resumption of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza early Monday evening, even though the five-day ceasefire with Hamas is only set to end at midnight.
The projection is based on the assumption that Egypt-brokered talks with Hamas are on the verge of failure, the report said.
The sources were quoted as saying that the ceasefire won’t be broken directly by Hamas but rather by other, smaller armed factions.
Hamas, the sources said, will prefer to “turn a blind eye” to the violations of the ceasefire rather than declare that efforts at cementing a deal have failed.
