Israel Says Hamas Ceasefire Violated After 15 Minutes

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has reported that unspecified Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip violated a nascent ceasefire after only 15 minutes, telling Newsweek it intercepted a rocket fired towards southern Israel.

Rocket sirens sounded in the evacuated southern Israeli towns of Kissufim and Ein HaShlosha early on Friday morning, shortly after a four-day ceasefire came into effect that will allow a prisoner exchange and the delivery of humanitarian aid into the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip.

"There was a rocket and it was intercepted," the IDF Spokesperson's Unit told Newsweek of the reports, noting it was fired at 7:15 a.m. local time; 15 minutes after the ceasefire—which the IDF is calling an "operational pause"—came into effect.

It is not yet clear which group was responsible for the alleged rocket launch, though the IDF has previously said Hamas bears responsibility for any attacks from Gaza into southern Israel given it holds influence over other local militant groups.