Who is breaking Gaza’s ceasefires?
The latest Gaza truce is holding so far. But Hamas and Israel accuse each of other of violating a series of ceasefires over four weeks. So why has every previous truce broken down?
Above: Gaza’s ceasefires and how long they lasted
Palestinians said that Monday’s ceasefire, a seven-hour truce designed to allow humanitarian access, was broken by Israel minutes after it was started, when it targeted a refugee camp in Gaza City. An eight-year-old girl was reported to have been killed and 29 injured.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said the details of the attack were being checked, but that Hamas had continued to fire rockets into Israel during the truce, and that two had crashed into Israel.
It is just the latest example of claim and counter-claim in a long line of failed truces since the Gaza conflict began.
15 July
Scheduled for six hours, lasted three hours
Above: rockets fored from Gaza City on 15 July
A six-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt lasted just three hours. Hamas said it had not been consulted about the ceasefire, and would not stop firing rockets without Israeli concessions.
Israel said that since the ceasefire had gone into effect, Hamas fired 123 rockets across the border, with one killing an Israeli citizen – Israel’s first fatality of the renewed conflict.
17 July
Scheduled for five hours, lasts for five hours
Above: a Gaza street hit by Israel prior to a five-hour ceasefire on 17 July.
The UN requested a five-hour pause in fighting to allow Gazans to stock up on food. Despite claims that Hamas had fired rockets over the border in the period, the ceasefire was largely observed.
Before the ceasefire took place the IDF announced it had thwarted Hamas fighters using tunnels to access Israeli territory, and released video footage of the threat being “neutralised”.
Following the truce Israel began its ground offensive.
20 July
Scheduled for two hours, lasts one hour
Above: Israel fires shells towards Gaza on 20 July
A UN-brokered humanitarian ceasefire fails after one hour with claims from Israel that Hamas attacked its soldiers.
The day was one of the Gaza conflict’s bloodiest, with at least 62 Palestinians killed in the shelling of a Gaza neighbourhood.
Read more: A doctor writes from Gaza - 'there are lakes of blood'
Egypt, Qatar, France and the United Nations, among others, continued to push for a permanent ceasefire, with little sign of progress.
26 July
Scheduled for 12 hours, lasts for 12 hours (though efforts at extending the ceasefire fail)
Above: Gazans inspect the rubble that was their homes
A humanitarian ceasefire broadly held on 26 July, allowing Palestinians to search for their loved ones in Gaza’s rubble and stock up on food. Israel said Hamas fired six rockets across the border during this period.
Israel attempted to extend the ceasefire, due to end at 8pm, until midnight, but insisted it be allowed to continue looking for Hamas tunnels. Hamas rejected the deal, saying it would continue to fire on Israel whilst Israeli soldiers were on Palestinian soil.
Hamas later agreed to a 24-hour truce so that people in Gaza could celebrate Eid al-Futr, but the ceasefire broke down with each side accusing the other of attacks.
1 August
Scheduled for 72 hours, broke down after two hours.
Above: An unexploded shell in Gaza, seen during a brief pause in fighting on 1 August
More than 50 Palestinians were killed within hours of a three-day ceasefire beginning, as US and UN-brokered truce collapsed almost immediately.
Israel claimed that Hamas had used the pause in violence to launch an attack and kidnap an Israeli soldier, 90 minutes after the ceasefire was due to begin. It later emerged that the soldier was in fact killed in fighting.
Hamas said it had never agreed that Israeli soldiers be allowed to stay on Palestinian soil, where they are hunting for Hamas tunnels.
4 August
Scheduled for seven hours, lasts seven hours
Despite claims of the Israeli attack on the refugee camp, and Hamas rocket fire across the border, the ceasefire was officially maintained.
Gazan officials say 1,831 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict began on 8 July and a quarter of Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants displaced. As many as 3,000 homes have been destroyed.
Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat and three civilians from Hamas rocket fire.