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A senior Israeli official said on Saturday that Hamas suffered a severe blow to the Israeli offensive on Gaza on Friday and called for a truce through Egyptian mediators. The official also added that Hamas had proposed stopping the "terror of fire" and the "terror at the fence", probably evoking the launching of kites and flaming balloons against Israel as well as attacks and attacks. infiltrations at the border.
"The Egyptians guarantee us and in any case, the actions on the ground will determine what will happen, if Hamas violates the truce, it will pay an even heavier price," added the official.
Earlier Saturday, an Israeli army spokesman announced that Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza border could return to a normal "civilian routine", with calm resuming after a deadly exchange with Gaza militants. Friday.
"At the end of an badessment by the South Command this morning, it was decided to maintain a complete civilian routine in the communities close to the Gaza Strip," the statement said, adding, "it is not necessary to There are no restrictions "
Eliyahu Hershkovitz
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Israel and Hamas have agreed to restore calm in the Gaza Strip, a Hamas spokesman said Saturday after climbing on Friday night.
"With the Egyptian and United Nations efforts, it was agreed to return to the era of calm [Israel] and the Palestinian factions," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters .
Despite the lull in fighting, the Israeli army on Saturday targeted a Hamas position with tank fire after suspects traveled to Israel from Gaza. The suspects then returned to the band and the Israeli army reported no casualties in his statement.
In Friday's clashes, an Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinian gunmen along the Gaza border. He was evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beer Sheva, after being shot at by snipers and declared dead at the hospital.
The killed soldier is the first to be killed on the active Gaza front since the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, an Israeli army spokesman said. He was wearing a bulletproof vest when he was a victim of a sniper fire at weekly events called "March of Return". His family was informed of his death, but his identity and the exact circumstances of the incident have not yet been revealed by the army.
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The Israeli army said it had carried out extensive attacks against Hamas targets after the soldier's death. Four Palestinians were also killed in the exchange. Hamas' armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qbadam Brigades, confirmed that three of them were members of the organization.
Three rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza during the escalation; two of the rockets were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome, the rocket defense system. The third rocket fell into an open area near Kibbutz Nahal Oz. No injury or damage has been reported.
The Israeli army said its tanks had hit 68 Hamas targets and "eliminated about 60 buildings and infrastructure and canceled important military and command and control capabilities."
Following the escalation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two security meetings with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, military leader Gadi Eisenkot, director of Shin Bet Nadav Argaman and others senior defense officials. "If Hamas continues to launch rockets, the result will be much worse than they think," Lieberman told United Nations Ambbadador to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov.
Lieberman warned on Friday that Hamas was forcing Israel into a situation that may require a "mbadive painful military operation" that will be larger than the previous one in 2014.
"We try to be measured and responsible, but Hamas leaders lead us into a situation where there is no choice, a situation in which we will have to embark on a large military operation and painful, not only for appearances, "said Lieberman during a visit to the southern city of Sderot.
He added that such an operation would be "more painful than Operation Protective Edge" for Hamas. "Unfortunately, the people of Gaza will be among those who will have to pay the price," he said.
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