The spokesman for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday there is really no debate about who broke a humanitarian cease-fire between his country and the Hamas group on the Palestinian side of the conflict that’s been raging over Gaza for days.
“It’s clear who broke the cease-fire,” Mark Regev told CNN. “It’s clear who gave assurances and who lied.”
Mr. Regev was referring to the reported capture of an Israeli soldier by Palestinian militants near Rafah.
The New York Times reported two Israeli soldiers also were killed after the militants emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza.
In turn, 35 Palestinians died and 100 were wounded when Israeli forces hit the area with airstrikes, the newspaper reports.
Hamas claims Israel broke the cease-fire by engaging their forces.
Yousef Munayyer, executive director the Palestine Center, warned CNN not to buy Israel’s narrative “hook, line and sinker,” arguing early reports suggest the Israel soldier was taken as a prisoner of war.
“We’re not talking about the Lindbergh baby here,” he said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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