Israeli air strike in Gaza
Israeli air strike in GazaAbed Rahim Khatib/Flash90

International efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza have resumed, Barak Ravid of Walla! News reported on Sunday.

A diplomatic source told Ravid that over the past 24 hours, UN Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland has been holding extensive talks with all sides, including with Israel’s National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and other security officials.

Wennesland, the diplomatic source said, is making "an attempt to restore calm in Gaza and Israel, and avoid another devastating full-scale war".

An Israeli official did not deny the call between the UN envoy and Israel national security adviser but said, "There are no ceasefire talks. The operation in Gaza continues."

On Friday, the Russian TASS news agency reported that Israel had refused a ceasefire with Hamas, and the Egyptian delegation had therefore returned to Cairo.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the rocket attacks from Gaza continued. On Sunday afternoon, sirens sounded repeatedly across southern Israel, including in Be'er Sheva, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Netivot and localities in the Eshkol and Sdot Negev regional councils.

Heavy rocket fire was recorded from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip towards Israeli towns in the Gaza frontier, as well as the coastal cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon.

A synagogue in Ashkelon suffered a direct hit from one of the rockets, while a private residence was struck by a rocket in Ashdod. There are no reports of injuries in either incident.

A rocket hit near a supermarket in Netivot, but no casualties were reported.

The rocket barrages then resumed on Sunday night, after a few hours of quiet. Sirens sounded in Ashkelon and other communities located near the Gaza border around 11:25 p.m.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shavuot in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)