A ceasefire was agreed.
(Photo: AP)
Gaza, Jerusalem Israel and the extremist Palestinian group Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip have stopped attacking each other after five days of fighting. A ceasefire brokered by Egypt just a few hours earlier has been in effect since Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. CET. In Gaza, the largest city in the Gaza Strip, the streets, deserted during the fighting, filled up. Passers-by cheered, drivers honked. “Considering the agreement reached between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, Egypt announces that a ceasefire has been reached between the Palestinian and Israeli sides,” reads the ceasefire agreement seen by Reuters.
Israel thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for mediating, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Islamic Jihad also confirmed the agreement: “We declare that we accept the Egyptian announcement.”
As recently as Saturday morning, Israel had ruled out an early ceasefire. “We are not holding ceasefire talks,” said national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. Israel’s top priority is fighting the jihadists. Islamic Jihad announced it would continue to fire rockets. “The Resistance has been preparing for a months-long confrontation,” it said in a statement.
Since dawn, fighters of the organization have been firing rockets. In Israel, air alerts were raised in areas close to the border. A Palestinian worker was killed by rocket splinters, according to a hospital spokesman. The Israeli military said planes hit Islamic Jihad command centers and rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip. Plumes of smoke rose as loud explosions shook the bombed areas.
Fighting broke out on Tuesday
Egypt has been trying to mediate a ceasefire for days. At least 10 Palestinians in Gaza and two in Israel have died in attacks since fighting erupted on Tuesday after Israeli forces targeted the killing of two Islamic Jihad commanders. As of Saturday night, Israel has killed a total of six jihadist commanders. Israel accuses the Iran-backed group of planning attacks.
According to the Israeli military, they have no indication that the Islamist Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, has also fired rockets. Islamic Jihad, the largest armed group in Gaza after Hamas, has fired over 1,000 rockets. Like Hamas, Islamic Jihad rejects coexistence with Israel and wants the destruction of the Jewish state. In turn, leading ministers of the religious-nationalist Israeli government reject the establishment of a Palestinian state and call for the expansion of Israeli territory in the occupied West Bank.
There were also confrontations in Palestinian areas outside the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian sources, there had been protests. An Israeli military spokesman said gunmen exchanged fire with the armed forces. In another case, a Palestinian who, according to the Israeli police, ran towards the officers with a knife, was shot dead.
More: According to the IMF, Ukraine needs at least 115 billion dollars – who should pay for the aid?