Three more rockets were fired into Israel from Gaza Saturday, the military said, after a Hamas official said the group rejected an Israeli proposal to extend a cease-fire by four more hours.
The Israel Defense Forces did not say whether anyone had been hurt by the rocket fire. Hamas said it fired five rockets at Israel, and that two of the rockets were aimed at Tel Aviv. Police in that city dispersed a peace rally of several thousand people because of the threat, a spokesman said.
The ceasefire reached Friday night expired at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET). Israel had proposed extending that to about midnight local time, but Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said in a text message to reporters Saturday that it wouldn’t agree to the plan.
The Israel Defense Forces also said some Gaza residents have returned to areas ordered evacuated by the military, and warned that “those who ignore our warnings jeopardize their own safety.” More than 1,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the fighting that erupted on July 8. Israel has lost 40 soldiers and two civilians.
