WarSclerotic

“The actions in the field are those to determine what happens next. If Hamas breaks (the ceasefire) it would pay even a more severe price,” the official asserted.

Incendiary kite terrorism (Photo: AFP)

Following a special situation assessment held Saturday morning and a calm night on the border fence, the IDF’s Home Front Command said Israeli communities on the Gaza border can return to civilian routine. The Zikim beach, which was closed Friday amid the volatile situation, was reopened Saturday morning.

“With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between (Israel) and Palestinian factions,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman.

Nevertheless, shortly after that an IDF tank fired at a Hamas post in northern Gaza after several Palestinians crossed the border fence into Israel. The infiltrators immediately returned to Gaza’s territory, and no casualties were reported.

Back to routine in Zikim beach (Photo: Roee Idan)

Apart from that incident, the truce has been holding, with no further retaliation from Gaza. Hamas came under pressure not to retaliate to the extensive Israeli strikes, and the terror group exercised restraint throughout the night, only responding with moderate short-range rocket fire.

An IDF soldier was killed near Kissufim by sniper fire from the Gaza Strip on Friday afternoon, leading to a retaliatory strike by the IDF that killed at least four Hamas members.

The IDF soldier, who was wearing a ceramic vest, was killed by a bullet hitting his chest. A helicopter was called to evacuate the severely wounded soldier, but he was pronounced dead in the field, the IDF said.

IDF pounds Gaza (Photo: AFP)

This incident marks the first time an IDF soldier is killed on the Gaza frontier in active duty since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge and since the “March of Return” campaign had been launched.

The soldier’s death sparked a retaliatory strike by the IDF that killed at least four Hamas fighters.

During the flare-up, which lasted several hours, IDF tanks had hit 68 Hamas targets and had “eliminated about 60 buildings and infrastructures and revoked significant military and command and control capabilities.”

The Hamas Zaytun battalion headquarters in northern Gaza, as well as Hamas headquarters in Bureij in central Gaza and in Khan Yunis in the southern part of the strip, were completely destroyed.

The IDF’s spokesperson’s Unit called Friday’s offensive “The Headquarters Night” and stressed that it had severely damaged Hamas’s arms depots, training facilities, observation posts, battalion situation rooms, battalion commander’s offices and other infrastructures.