Gaza ceasefire appears to hold despite Israeli air strikes

A few overnight rocket attacks from Gaza set off air-raid sirens in southern Israel but in a sign the ceasefire is still holding, schools have re-opened. The Israeli military struck back against additional Hamas targets but there were no reports of casualties from either side.  

The latest flare-up began early Monday with a rare long-distance rocket strike from the Gaza Strip that hit a house north of Tel Aviv, wounding seven Israelis.

The Israeli military hit back with a series of air strikes across the enclave into the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday.

Both Israel and Hamas appeared ready to step back from the brink of a full-fledged confrontation. But violence could erupt again this weekend, when large-scale protests are expected along the Israel-Gaza frontier.

The Israeli military bolstered its forces along the Gaza frontier in advance.

There have been no deaths on either side, but seven Israelis and seven Palestinians were wounded in the escalation at a highly sensitive time ahead of Israel's 9 April elections.

In-depth: Gaza hopes - and doubts - that Israel will ever be held accountable

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that he was ready to order further action in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu cut short his visit to Washington to handle the response after a Gaza rare rocket strike.

This Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the "Great Return March", in which nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.

An informal truce between Hamas and Israel had led to relative calm along the border, but recent weeks have seen another uptick in violence.

A March United Nations report suggests Israel's use of force against unarmed protestors on the Gaza border has been disproportionate and could be considered war crimes.

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