to updateSunday morning, it appears that the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip is now continuing. In the first hours after the armistice took effect, attacks continued from both sides.
The cease-fire came after Egyptian mediation. The intention was to silence the guns from 10pm local time (9pm Belgian time, ed.) on Saturday. But that was not immediately respected. Shortly after 10 pm, Palestinian militants fired several more rockets into Israel. Media reported that sirens sounded in Nirim and Ein Hashlosha. In addition, sirens and explosions were heard in the wider area of Tel Aviv. The Israeli Air Force also attacked targets in the coastal strip.
But later in the night the truce appears to be respected. And the leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziad Nakhaleh, announced the end of the fighting with Israel. “Our people stood firm on their land and were not crushed,” he said in a video message. And in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets, carrying flags.
Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi also thanked Egypt for its “great efforts” to end the fighting. According to him, “quietness must be answered with calmness.” But Hanegbi warned that Israel would defend itself in the event of further attacks. The army said it would reopen Israeli roads along the Gaza border on Sunday.
Congratulations also came to Egypt from the White House.
On Tuesday, Israel launched a large-scale military offensive against the Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip. 34 Palestinians, including six children, were killed. One Palestinian rocket was killed on Israeli territory.
look. More deaths in attacks on and from Gaza
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