Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation Wednesday in response to a cease-fire with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Lieberman is among those in the Israeli government and elsewhere who criticized the Egyptian-mediated truce, preferring instead that Israeli forces more forcefully respond to the militants in the Gaza Strip.

He said Wednesday the deal is “a capitulation to terror.”

A short time earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the decision to halt fire on Gaza and bring an end to several days of deadly fighting between the two sides.

“Our enemies begged for a cease-fire and they know why,” Netanyahu said.

Militants in Gaza fired 460 rockets and mortars into Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes from Israel against 160 targets in Gaza.

The clashes left five Palestinian militants and two others dead.  One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike, while three others were wounded.

The latest violence followed an unsuccessful Israeli raid Sunday in Gaza that left one Israeli officer and seven Palestinians dead.

U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov called for all the parties to show restraint and “reverse the spiral of violence.”

The clashes left five Palestinian militants and two others dead. One Israeli was killed by a rocket strike, while three others were wounded.

The latest violence followed an unsuccessful Israeli raid Sunday in Gaza that left one Israeli officer and seven Palestinians dead. 

U.N. Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov called for all the parties to show restraint and “reverse the spiral of violence.”
…