Hamas leader faces Egyptian mediators after terrorists launch rockets at Israel

After Palestinian terrorists launched rockets at Israel on Thursday, Hamas’ chief scrambled to meet Egyptian security officials attempting to broker a ceasefire between the terror group and the Jewish state.

By World Israel News Staff and AP

The Hamas terror group’s leader Yahya Sinwar rushed to Egypt for talks with Cairo officials on Thursday after terrorists in Gaza launched two rockets at Israel, threatening implementation of Egyptian-mediated understandings aimed at ramping down the ongoing conflict.

The visit by Sinwar to Cairo came hours after terrorists fired rockets from Gaza, which was preceded by an Israeli strike on Hamas sites in Gaza in response to airborne arson attacks launched from the strip late Wednesday.

No injuries were reported on either side.

The flare-up marked the first Israeli strike in more than a month of relative calm that followed the unofficial deal. Egyptian mediators have been trying to reach a long-term cease-fire during the lull.

In a short statement, the Islamic terror group said that Sinwar will meet the director of Egypt’s general intelligence.

Under the agreement, Israel expanded the permitted fishing zone off Gaza’s coast to 15 nautical miles, but scaled back the area to its previous limit of 9 miles this week after rocket fire.

Hamas has ruled Gaza since it wrested power from Palestinian rivals Fatah in a bloody 2007 coup.

The terror group accuses Israel of not complying with the terms of the Egyptian agreement, under which Qatar is obligated to transfer millions of dollars to Hamas, which diverts massive amounts of aid to finance terror operations and maintains a security force that publicly beats and executes dissenters.