GAZA, (Reuters) – The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip announced last night they were no longer committed to a more than two-year de facto truce with Israel since the end of a war in early 2009.
The statement was broadcast over a Hamas radio station after Israel pounded coastal Gaza for two days with air strikes in response to rocket salvoes and attacks on Thursday that killed eight Israelis.
“There is no longer any truce with the enemy,” the statement said in a move seen as paving the way for Hamas to escalate the violence with Israel.