After latest retaliatory attack on 3 terror targets, Israel will wait 24 hrs to allow the Egyptian gov’t to broker a ceasefire, which Jerusalem hopes will restore calm to southern Israel.

The Israel Air Force has struck targets in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday evening in retaliation for the Palestinian rocket barrage that pounded the south, Channel 10 reported. There is no word of casualties.

Israel Air Force F-16 Netz/Barak – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson Unit

Israel will wait an additional 24 hours to allow the Egyptian government to broker a ceasefire which Jerusalem hopes will restore calm along the Gaza frontier, Channel 10 television reported on Friday.

Israeli commentators reported on Friday that Hamas has communicated to Cairo its desire to end the current round of fighting in the south. According to reports, Hamas has no wish to escalate the situation in the south, which has heated up in recent days as Palestinians in Gaza continue to pound the western Negev communities with rockets and mortars.

Channel 10 is reporting on Friday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has opted for a restrained Israeli military response against Hamas despite the fact that rockets continue to explode in the south.

The Israeli cabinet is reportedly divided over the appropriate Israeli response to the Palestinian rocket barrage. Hawkish ministers like Naftali Bennett, Avigdor Liberman, and Gilad Erdan want a more aggressive military blow against Hamas, while Tzipi Livni, Yair Lapid, and Yitzhak Aharonovich have urged the prime minister to refrain from ordering a stepped-up assault on Hamas.

Thus far, Netanyahu is siding with the moderates in the cabinet, according to Channel 10.

View original Jerusalem Post publication at: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IAF-strikes-Gaza-in-retaliation-to-Palestinian-rocket-fire-on-south-361552