Despite attempts at prolonging the ceasefire with Hamas, a Qassam rocket was fired Tuesday from the southern Gaza Strip. The rocket fell near a kibbutz in Eshkol Regional Council, near the border fence. No injuries or damage were reported.
In response to the fire Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that the border crossings into the Strip would remain closed on Wednesday.
On Monday Barak addressed the issue of the fragile ceasefire in a speech before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
"In the months before the truce there were 500 incidents of high-trajectory fire every month. Since the beginning of the lull, we've had about 10 such incidents a month," he said, adding that "I don't regret one month of calm."
Barak noted that over the past two and a half weeks – since the IDF uncovered a tunnel in the Gaza Strip aimed at executing terror attacks – a rise has been recorded in the rocket fire directed at Israel, and that the number of rockets and mortars has been stable in the past few days.
Earlier Monday, Barak decided to allow the entry of humanitarian equipment into Gaza. Basic food products and medications will be brought into the Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing.