Israeli officials said they had intercepted an attempt by 13 militants to tunnel into a village hours before the humanitarian ceasefire was declared, the Telegraph reports. The Israeli army said it had dispatched aircraft to block the infiltration.
Lt Col Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the army, said they had “foiled a terror attack that could have had devastating and deadly consequences”. At least one militant had been killed, the Israeli army said, with the rest fleeing back to Gaza. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the incident.
Israel and Hamas pledged to observe and five-hour pause in hostilities, which took effect at 10am local time. Fighting continued up to the very last moment, when Israel took out the attempt to tunnel into a village.
Four people were reported to have died overnight as Israel struck at the homes of two Hamas militants. The Israeli army says it has now struck 37 targets, while Gaza officials said 30 homes had been destroyed.
Although attempts at a truce collapsed two days ago, Israeli officials are reported to be in Cairo to take part in talks to find a longer-term ceasefire.
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