No ceasefire without Israeli tanks withdrawing from Gaza: Hamas

Hamas rejected on Sunday Israel’s decision to extend by 24 hours a pause in hostilities in Gaza, saying Israeli tanks first had to withdraw from the territory.

“No humanitarian ceasefire is valid without Israeli tanks withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and without residents being able to return to their homes and ambulances carrying bodies being able to freely move around in Gaza,” Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhum said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse.

During the ceasefire, Gazans took advantage of the lull in fighting to recover their dead and stock up on food supplies, flooding into the streets after the ceasefire began at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said rescue teams had taken advantage of the truce to search wrecked neighborhoods and had recovered some 147 bodies were recovered, bringing the death toll since the beginning of the escalating conflict to around 1,050.

Two Israeli soldiers, who were wounded in and near the Gaza Strip earlier this week, died Saturday, bringing to 42 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the military operation on July 8th, the army said.

Infantry Captain Liad Lavi, 22, was wounded on Thursday south of the Gaza Strip while infantry Sergeant Rami Chalon, 39, was hurt two days earlier at the border with the enclave, the army said in a statement.