They're just making this up as they go along:

Palestinians in Gaza believed Israel had called a 48-hour lull in retaliatory attacks with Hamas when Israeli warplanes launched a massive bombardment of militant installations in the Gaza Strip, a UN official said Monday. Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which helps Palestinian refugees, raised the possible violation of an informal truce in a video press conference with UN reporters from her base in Gaza... Abu Zayd said Palestinians in Gaza were surprised when Israeli warplanes sent more than 100 tons of bombs crashing down on key security installations in Hamas-ruled Gaza starting Saturday morning because it was in the middle of the lull... What we understood here (was) that there was a 48-hour lull to be called, and this was called by the Israelis, Abu Zayd said. They said they would wait 48 hours. That was on Friday morning, I believe, until Sunday morning, and that they were going to evaluate. There was only one rocket that went out on Friday, so it was obvious that Hamas was trying, again, to observe that truce to get this back under control, she said.

"It was obvious": the awkward phrase of unblinking morons who can't formulate even dumb justifications for their shameless lies. First year argumentation students roll their eyes at that phrase but this idiot is getting broadcast by international media outlets.

(1) There were 25 shells fired at Israel on Friday morning which is 24 more than 1.

(2) If Hamas backed off even a little bit over the course of that day it was because one of their rockets fell short and killed two Palestinian schoolgirls.

(3) Hamas never, ever wavered from their total rejection of a renewed ceasefire.

(4) Hamas had spent all of the last week mocking Israeli restraint - you have to be dribblingly gullible to believe that they were just this close to being respectful of two days of contemplative Israeli introspection.

Worse than being insultingly stupid - this is pathetic. Hamas got caught flat-footed because they believed their own propaganda. The genuinely thought that Israel would appease them no matter how blatant their war crimes. So now to save face they're going with "the sneaky Jews lied to us." How quaint.

References and previously behind the jump...