Israeli army directed to continue Gaza war, rockets fire resumed

The security cabinet in Israel on Wednesday directed the army to carry on with the war on Gaza while the Palestinian resistance groups launched more rocket attacks on Israel.
At the end of a four-hour meeting led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the cabinet ordered the army to continue military operations in Gaza till all the tunnels dug near the borders with Israel are destroyed, an official told Radio Israel.
The cabinet claimed that the operation has led to "significant achievements on the ground" and is hitting at the "strategic apparatus" that Hamas has invested in for years.
The official said the Israeli army has had "significant achievements" in degrading the infrastructure of Hamas and other groups in Gaza, and will "continue to expand" those operations.
Meanwhile, the cabinet said it will continue to declare short humanitarian pauses in the areas- like Wednesday's four-hour cease fire- where "there is no fighting and without endangering soldiers or compromising the efforts to destroy the tunnels." It noted that the idea behind these pauses of fighting is "offering the civilians in Gaza the possibility to stock up on basic necessities," the official said.
In the meantime, the Israeli army said that rockets fired from Gaza were resumed on Wednesday night, as sirens sounded in many towns. One rocket exploded in an open territory in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas military wing claimed responsibility for it.
A military spokesman said that the Iron Dome defence system intercepted three rockets launched on Ashkelon, but one fell in an open area. Two other rockets were also intercepted over Merhavim.
He added that after a relatively quiet night, rocket fire at southern Israel resumed in the morning as three rockets hit open areas.