Efforts in Cairo to reach a cease-fire agreement apparently failed as Israel’s Netanyahu government announced the beginning of a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

The Guardian gave a summary as of 5 p.m. Eastern U.S. time:

• Rocket fire from Gaza and air strikes from Israel resumed after the five-hour truce. Rocket sirens in Israel sounded within minutes of the end of the truce. The first Israeli air strike occurred within an hour.

• Israeli president, Shimon Peres, has issued a qualified apology for the death of four Palestinians boys killed in an Israeli raid on a beach. He said the attack was an accident but appeared to blame Palestinians for not heeding warnings issued by the Israeli air force.

• Israel’s military said it has repelled an attack by 13 Palestinian gunmen who tunnelled in from Gaza near an Israeli community. At least one of the gunmen was killed after Israeli aircraft bombed the group, it said.

Look for updates here.

Also on Thursday, “Democracy Now!” reported the killing of four Palestinian boys on a Gaza beach by an Israeli gunboat on Wednesday:

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.

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#benjamin netanyahu#israel#palestine#shimon peres