“Palestinian people have apparently voted for change, but we believe their aspirations for peace and a peaceful life remain unchanged,” said Rice.
From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip – The ruling Hamas group fired a barrage of homemade rockets at Israel on Saturday, hours after calling off a truce with Israel in anger over an artillery attack that killed seven civilians at a beachside picnic in the Gaza Strip.
The end of the truce raised the prospect of a new wave of bloodshed and the resumption of suicide attacks that Hamas had suspended since reaching the cease-fire in February 2005.
The Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for at least 15 of the rockets fired after midnight, as well as a barrage of mortar bombs. The attacks caused no casualties, and the Israeli army said nearly all of them appeared to land inside Gaza.
“The earthquake in the Zionist towns will start again and the aggressors will have no choice but to prepare their coffins or their luggage,” the Hamas militants said in a leaflet. “The resistance groups … will choose the proper place and time for the tough, strong and unique response.”
Israel’s artillery attack was part of a wider aerial and artillery bombardment of suspected Palestinian rocket-launching sites that killed a total of 10 people Friday. Three were militants.
Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, Israel’s southern commander, said investigators were trying to determine if an errant tank shell killed the people at the beach.
“I express deep regret over the fact that uninvolved persons have been hit,” Galant told reporters.
You will never see Hamas expressing such regret. They target “uninvolved persons.”