Ceasefire holds but Netanyahu wants Gaza stop flying arsonist kites

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding on Sunday in Gaza, ending the most intensive flare-up in violence around the Palestinian enclave since a 2014 war.

In a day of fierce fighting on Saturday, Israel carried out dozens of air strikes in Gaza, killing two people, and the Hamas resistance group fired rockets across the fence, wounding three people in a southern Israeli town, Sderot.

The ceasefire, the second between the two sides to be brokered by Egypt this year after a previous day-long flare-up in May, came into force late on Saturday.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not accept a ceasefire unless it included an end to all hostilities, including incendiary kites and balloons from Gaza that have devastated nearby Israeli farmlands and nature reserves.

"The Israeli military has delivered its most punishing blow against Hamas since the 2014 war. I hope they got the message. If not, they will get it later on," he said.

TRT World's Reagan Des Vignes reports.

Regular clashes 

Weekly clashes at the Israel-Gaza fence have kept tensions at a high for months. 

Thousands were expected to attend the funerals on Sunday of two Palestinian teens killed in one of the Israeli attacks.

A father and son were killed in an explosion in a building in Gaza on Sunday. 

But no blame was cast on Israel and police said they had launched an investigation into the cause of the blast.

Palestinians in Gaza have for months been demonstrating against Israel's decade-long blockade of the territory and in support of their right to return to lands they fled or were driven from during the war surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948.

Since the protests and clashes broke out along the Gaza-Israel fence on March 30, at least 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops. 

No Israelis have been killed.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.