Hamas denied responsibility Gaza rocket fire

On Thursday the Palestinian Hamas group that rule the Gaza Strip has criticized recent rocket fire directed at Israel and denied responsibility. The Hamas government interior ministry statement said that the recent rockets were "being fired at the wrong time" and were "not being fired by the resistance faction".

The statement added that its security forces would find out who was responsible, but stopped short of promising any punitive measures.

Israel holds Hamas responsible for all weapons fired at Israel from within Gaza, not accepting that any faction may be taking armed action without Hamas’s approval or tolerance. It said it launched the offensive against Gaza, in which 13 Israelis were killed, to stop the rocket fire.

But rocket fire – 176 launched according to the Israeli military – has continued, though none of it has been fatal in the weeks since Israel and Palestinian factions separately declared ceasefires. Israeli air assaults have also not ceased, with planes bombing Gaza targets almost daily, though with far fewer casualties than during the three-week all out offensive.

The two sides, along with mediators such as Egypt, have not been able to cement a more lasting ceasefire. Hamas wants Israel to lift its crippling blockade of border crossings into Gaza which the 1.5 million Palestinians in the territory rely on for the supply of vital goods and services.

Israel says it allows essential food and medicine into Gaza, but will not lift restrictions on the crossings until rocket fire stops completely.

The rare criticism of the rocket fire – the first since Israel halted its three-week war on Gaza on January 18 – comes as the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights raised the toll from war from 1,300 to 1,434 Palestinians killed.