Gaza LIVE: Israel`s plan to assassinate Hamas chief may backfire, says report

Zee Media Bureau/Supriya Jha & Neha Attre

Accusing Israel of trying to kill its chief, teh armed wing of Hamas, Ezzadine al-Qassam brigade threatened that the Jewish state had "opened a gateway to hell", and the Hamas would in retaliation target Israel`s Ben-Gurion International Airport with rocket fire, said a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, the chief of UN relief agency UNRWA, said that it would take years to rebuild Gaza, given the mammoth amount of destruction.

Unless blockade ends, #Gaza faces years of misery via @Reuters http://t.co/YDq7DN7E2R

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 20, 2014

In an interview to the Reuters, he added that it will take more than a decade to see any improvement in the lives of Gazans unless Israel lifted a blockade on its territory.

The Israeli attempt to assassinate the chief of Hamas may backfire and instead reinforce their resolve to fight Israel, says a report in the Haaretz. "If they (Israel) miss him (or only manage to wound him, again), and kill his family members, the hatred and determination to continue the conflict will only increase," adds the report.

Slamming Hamas for being the first to break the ceasefire every time, Israel said that it was the eleventh time that the militants had violated or rejected the ceasefire.

The rocket fire on Israel today is a gross violation of the ceasefire. This is the 11th ceasefire that Hamas has either rejected or violated

— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) August 19, 2014

Meanwhile, as the cross-border fire started, Israel says Gaza had launched some 70 rockets since the ceasefire was violated.

Since Gaza terrorists violated the latest ceasefire, they have fired about 70 rockets at Israel. 10 rockets were launched in the past hour.— IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) August 20, 2014

Hamas says Israel tried to assassinate the chief of its armed wing named Mohammed Deif, however the strike ended up killing 11 others including his his pregnant wife and infant daughter, reports said.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon is “gravely disappointed” as truce talks between Hamas and Israel fails.

Ban Ki-moon is "gravely disappointed" by return to hostilities in #Gaza - more from @UN_Spokesperson is here: http://t.co/hi1Cl6RJ2j— United Nations (@UN) August 20, 2014

Hamas said Wednesday that an Israeli air strike killed the wife and child of its Gaza military chief, as a temporary ceasefire went up in smoke and Cairo truce talks froze, as per AFP report. "The wife of the great leader was martyred with his daughter," in a strike Tuesday night, Hamas`s exiled deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuk wrote on Facebook while saying nothing about the fate of Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif himself, the report stated. 

An Israeli air strike Wednesday on a house in the Gaza Strip town of Deir el-Balah killed a pregnant woman, three young children and two male relatives, emergency services said, the AFP news report stated. 

Hamas militants fired rockets into Israel and has vowed to target Israel`s Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Heavy fighting resumed between Israel and Hamas resulting in casualties on Wednesday after the failure of talks in Cairo. The fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed on Wednesday after truce talks between them collapsed. The violence started after Israel accused Hamas militants of breaking the truce hours before it was due to end. Egypt also called back its negotiators from Cairo where the talks were underway followed by Palestinian negotiators who blamed Israel for the failure in talks.