This cartoon was originally posted on February 10, 2005 and is one of over 400 illustrations you'll find in our latest book Black & White World III, which can be ordered via Cox & Forkum, The Steyn Store, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com.
From AP last week: Hamas armed wing breaks truce.
Hamas's armed wing declared an end to a five-month-old Gaza ceasefire on Tuesday by firing rockets intoPosted by Forkum at May 3, 2007 03:00 PMIsrael, but the Palestinian government led by the Islamist group called for the truce to be restored.
Hamas's armed wing said it fired the rockets from the Gaza Strip in response to the killing of nine Palestinians over the weekend by Israeli forces.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz warned the Palestinian unity government, formed last month by Hamas Islamists and President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, against allowing additional rocket attacks.
The rockets caused minor damage but no injuries as the Jewish state celebrated its Independence Day.
"The violation of the truce is an exceptional event that will not last," Abbas said at a news conference in Rome. "I take this opportunity to appeal to Israel to show the necessary self-control so that this will not happen again."
Egyptian security officials in Gaza planned to meet on Wednesday with Hamas's armed wing and other militant groups to try to head off any further escalation.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was also expected to meet his security advisers to consider how to respond.
Peretz was quoted by Haaretz newspaper as saying the "Palestinian unity government will not provide any (Palestinian official) with immunity" if the rocket fire continues.
"There is no calm between us and the (Israeli) occupation. The occupation ended the calm," Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, said after the group resumed rocket fire for the first time since the November truce took hold.
The Hamas-led Palestinian government later called for the ceasefire to remain in place.
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