Soldier holds the remains of a rocket
Soldier holds the remains of a rocketAFP photo

There were conflicting reports on Wednesday night regarding a supposed Egyptian-brokered ceasefire that was reached between Gaza’s Hamas rulers and Israel.

According to some reports, an agreement was reached, according to which both sides will stop firing as of midnight (Israel time) on Wednesday night.

Other reports, however, said that there is an unofficial ceasefire is in place and that there are currently contacts going on to secure an agreement.

Gaza-based terrorists fired more than 80 rockets at southern Israel between Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon.

Three people were wounded, two of them seriously, and three homes were hit in the morning rocket barrage.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Gaza terrorists earlier on Wednesday that if the rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israel do not stop, “deeper activity” in the region lies ahead.

“We did not start this recent escalation,” the prime minister pointed out, “but if it continues, we are prepared to go ahead with much wider and deeper military operations,” he said.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak vowed to “return the quiet to the south” on Wednesday morning. He said in an interview on Army Radio that the army is considering how best to silence the attacks.

Similar “ceasefires” have been announced by Hamas rulers after previous rounds of escalation, but the Gaza-based terrorist groups always take advantage of these “ceasefires” to periodically send a reminder to Israelis that they have the ability to fire rockets.