Israel and Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip They agreed on a long-awaited ceasefire this Saturday after five days of an intense escalation that left 35 dead, the vast majority Gazans, as well as extensive damage in the impoverished enclave.
The exchange of projectiles intensified considerably during the first 15 minutes after 19:00 GMT, when the truce was supposed to have entered into force, but finally there was silence.The agreement, achieved thanks to the mediation of Egypt, it includes a commitment to “stop attacking civilians and houses,” the Egyptian state broadcaster reported exclusively. “Egypt calls on both parties, the Palestinian and the Israeli, to comply with the cessation of hostilities,” the same source added.
Muhamed al Hindi, a senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (YIP) who was in Cairo, said that his organization – considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union – “it will respect the ceasefire agreement as long as the Israeli enemy adheres to it.”
For his part, Israel’s National Security Adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, thanked Egypt and confirmed that his country accepted a ceasefire, but warned that it “will continue to do whatever is necessary to defend itself” if it receives new attacks.
The announcement was released at the same time that a burst of rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip, to which the Israeli Army responded, almost immediately, with new bombardments on the enclave.
“In response to the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, Israel Forces planes attacked five hidden rocket launchers and a military post used as a training facility for the terrorist organization” YIP, an Israeli army spokesman said.
These fresh shots injured three people on the Israeli side as they ran for shelter in bunkers, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency service reported.
Exceptional measures, such as movement and assembly restrictions for Israelis living 40 km around the Gaza Strip, will continue until Monday afternoon, but authorities have not announced when they will reopen the border with Gaza, vital to resupply. basic services in the impoverished enclave.
The only electricity generator in the Strip, home to 2.5 million people, was about to run out of fuel, while the hospitals were unable to supply and one of them suffered serious damage.
The damage to infrastructure is extensive, as one hundred buildings were destroyed in the enclave, many of them residential, and the only hospital in the center of the enclave has suffered severe damage.
Rumors of an imminent ceasefire, mediated by Egypt, the UN and Qatar, had been circulating for several days, but both parties to the conflict claimed that the negotiations were becoming “very difficult”, apparently due to Israel’s refusal to stop the killings of high command of the YIP.
This new war escalation began on Tuesday, when Israel activated the “Shield and Arrow” operation with the selective assassination of several YIP leaders in intense bombardments. In total, six high-ranking officers of the organization were killed, in addition to another 18 militiamen.
Since that day, the Army has successfully attacked 371 YIP targets -including homes of its members and military installations-, while the Islamist group has fired 1,234 projectiles from the Strip -rockets and mortars- most of which fell on unpopulated terrain or was intercepted by the anti-aircraft system.
A total of 33 Gazans were killed – at least 15 civilians including 7 children – and 147 were injured, according to the latest count by the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
On the Israeli side, there were two fatalities: an elderly woman was killed Thursday when a rocket hit her building in Rehovot, and a Gazan with a work permit in Israel today from shrapnel while grazing near the Strip.
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In all, 32 people were injured, but only seven from shrapnel, cave-ins or broken glass.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayeh today demanded United Nations intervention to “stop Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes.”