HAS PALESTINIANS DECIDED ..''IT'S NOW OR NEVER'' AS HAMAS FIRED SEVERAL ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL DESPITE A FOUR-HOUR CEASEFIRE EXTENSION?

Hamas said it fired several rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip late Saturday, after a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the embattled Palestinian territory, despite a four-hour Israeli extension.

The movement’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, said in three separate statements it had fired two rockets at Tel Aviv in central Israel, five at Nachal Oz in the south, and another five at the southern city of Ashkelon.

The fire came shortly after a 12-hour humanitarian truce window expired, with Israel having agreed to suspend its bombardment of Gaza from 08:00 am to 08:00 pm local time (0500 GMT to 1700 GMT).

Israel had announced it would extend the truce for another four hours while its security cabinet mulled whether to proceed with its military campaign in Gaza or seriously consider urgent world calls for a gradual but full cessation of hostilities.

The conflict in Gaza, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched a vast aerial campaign and followed that with a ground offensive, has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, 40 Israeli soldiers and 3 civilians inside Israel.