Gaza fighting escalates

UPDATE: After firing hundreds of rockets and mortars into Israel in the past 24 hours, Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza said Tuesday they accepted a cease-fire brokered by Egypt. There was no immediate word from Israel on whether it agreed to the deal, too. An hour before the Palestinians made their declaration, the Israeli Security Cabinet said it had ordered the military to “continue operations as needed,” following a six-hour meeting.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (10:35 a.m.): Hamas threatened Tuesday to step up rocket attacks against Israel if it continues airstrikes in Gaza but said it would stop if Israel would. The ongoing confrontation is the worst between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic militant group since the 2014 war. Hamas issued its warning shortly after it retaliated against an Israeli strike that hit the group’s Al-Aqsa television station. The militant group fired dozens of rockets at southern Israel, hitting a residential building in the coastal town of Ashkelon and killing a 48-year-old Palestinian laborer working there.

Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Hamas military wing, warned that the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Beersheba “are the next targets if the enemy continues bombing civilian buildings.” Later, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group will stop its rocket fire on Israel if Israel halts its airstrikes.

At least six Palestinians have died from the bombings, and 25 others have sustained injuries, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The latest unrest began late Sunday when Israeli forces entered the Gaza Strip under cover and were discovered, setting off a battle that left seven militants and a senior Israeli officer dead. The Israeli military said its Iron Dome defense system had intercepted 100 of roughly 400 rocket and mortar strikes fired by Hamas since Monday. The United Nations said it was working with Egypt to mediate an end to the violence, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on both sides “to exercise maximum restraint.”