TE24 International Desk:
The Israeli-Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad announced a ceasefire, raising hopes of an end to three days of fighting in the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 44 Palestinians, including 15 children.
The ceasefire began at 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT) on Sunday, but was interrupted until the last minute by Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rocket attacks.
Both sides agreed to stop fighting but warned each other that any violence would be met with violence. Yes, he said.
Local government agencies have announced they will reopen to the public, but universities have also announced they will resume accepting students.
Since Friday, Israel has been bombarding Gaza heavily, destroying buildings and depopulating refugee camps. About half of the 44 dead were civilians, according to Palestinian officials, who said Israeli forces targeted Islamic Jihad members, including Islamic Jihad cadres.
Palestinian civilians were also injured.
Islamic Jihad responded by firing hundreds of rockets into Israel, most of which were intercepted or blown up. According to Israel’s emergency services, three of them suffered stab wounds in Israel, and another 31 suffered minor injuries.
The fighting in Gaza was the worst since last year’s 11-day war that killed at least 250 people in the impoverished coastal enclave and about 13 in Israel. Release of prisoners
Sunday’s ceasefire was brokered by Egypt with the help of the United Nations and Qatar. Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad al-Nahra said one of the key deals was Egypt’s assurance that it would work toward the release of two of the group’s leaders captured by Israel.
Islamic Jihad sets the conditions: First, the unification of all Palestinians. Second, we call on the enemy to release our brother Khalil Awda, who is on hunger strike, and third, we demand the release of Sheikh Bassem al-Saadi, al-Nahra told reporters in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Egypt issued a statement saying it was “trying to release Awda and move him for medical treatment as well as release al-Saadi as soon as possible”.
There was no immediate comment from Israel. Al-Saadi’s arrest in the occupied West Bank last week was one of the main reasons for the recent increase. After his arrest, Israeli forces launched so-called precautionary operations in the Gaza Strip to prevent reprisal attacks.
Islamic Jihad commanders Taisir al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour were killed in Friday and Saturday’s attacks, respectively. Al-Saadi’s arrest in the occupied West Bank last week was one of the main reasons for the recent increase.
Israeli forces arrested 19 Islamic Jihadists in the occupied West Bank. As far as Israel is concerned, the operation is over, Al Jazeera’s Natasha Goneim reports from West Jerusalem.
For the Israelis, the goal was to neutralize Islamic Jihad, and most, if not all, of the senior leaders were also killed. I fought 4 battles.
We haven’t slept in days. Dozens of people took to the streets to celebrate. Resident Nur Abu Sultan told AFP earlier in the day that he was excited to wait for the ceasefire to be announced.
The 29-year-old woman said, “I haven’t slept for days because of the heat, shelling and missiles.” The sound of planes overhead…terrible.
The United States and the United Nations also welcomed the ceasefire.
US President Joe Biden thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi for Egypt’s role in brokering the ceasefire and called for an investigation into the civilian casualties, which he described as a tragedy.
Tol Wensland, the UN special envoy for the Middle East, said it reiterated its commitment to ‘do everything possible’ to end tensions, ensure civilian safety and ‘track down the Palestinian prisoner file’.
The situation is very critical, he tweeted. I call on all parties to respect the ceasefire. Although the fighting has stopped, Israel’s 15-year blockade has meant that Palestinians in Gaza cannot live a normal life.
About 2.3 million people are trapped in a narrow coastal enclave, where Israel and Egypt have severely restricted the movement of people and goods in and out of the enclave, citing security concerns and imposing a naval blockade.
The people of Gaza live under an Israeli siege 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a form of silent violence against all men, women and children in Gaza, so they look like normalcy. You can’t go back to things, said Ali Abunimah, director of Electronic Intifada, a website focused on occupied Palestinians.
Unfortunately it is fragile. It will happen again. I don’t know in a day or a week, a month or a year. But Israel enjoys complete impunity for its crimes against the Palestinians. And it will continue to happen because it is not just impunity, but has full and active support. Bombings, all of which were pro-Israel.
He added: occupation and aggression, but here they are helping Israel carry out occupation, aggression and terror against civilians.
