Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman resigned on Wednesday and called for early elections, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “capitulating to terror” and surrendering before the Islamist group Hamas over a Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Over 460 rockets and mortar shells were fired at southern Israel in 25 hours on Monday and Tuesday, according to the Israeli army. The Iron Dome missile defence system intercepted over 100 of them. Most of the rest landed in open fields, but dozens landed inside Israeli cities and towns, killing one person, injuring dozens more, and causing significant property damage.
In response, the Israeli military targeted approximately 160 sites in the Gaza Strip connected to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups, including four facilities that the army designated as “key strategic assets”. As news of a ceasefire between the Israeli government and Hamas — which controls the Gaza Strip —broke, Liberman’s office put out a statement saying any claim that he had backed ending Israel’s offensive was “fake news”.