Palestinians rejoice after the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Palestinian groups, in Gaza City, Gaza on May 13, 2023.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A truce between Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group officially got here into effect late on Saturday night, with an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement meant to finish the worst episode of cross-border fire since a 10-day war in 2021.
As fighting tapered off, streets in Gaza that had largely been deserted stuffed with Palestinians. Some people cheered and honked automotive horns while others headed to the homes of individuals killed within the fighting to point out their respect.
“In light of the agreement of the Palestinian and the Israeli side, Egypt broadcasts a ceasefire between the Palestinian and the Israeli sides has been reached,” a text of the agreement seen by Reuters read.
“The 2 sides will abide by the ceasefire which can include an end to targeting civilians, house demolition, an end to targeting individuals immediately when the ceasefire goes into effect,” it said.
Israel’s national security adviser thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for Cairo’s efforts, an announcement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
“Quiet might be met with quiet and if Israel might be attacked or threatened, it shall proceed to do what it must with a view to defend itself,” the statement said.
Islamic Jihad also confirmed the agreement. “We declare our acceptance of the Egyptian announcement and we are going to abide by it so long as the occupation (Israel) abides by it,” the group’s spokesman, Dawoud Shehab, said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre welcomed the ceasefire on Saturday night, joining the Israeli government in acknowledging Sisi’s and Egypt’s mediation efforts, and thanking Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
At the same time as the truce was being finalised, the 2 sides kept up firing, with air raid sirens sounding so far as Tel Aviv’s suburbs and Israel’s military announcing it had hit Islamic Jihad targets in response to rocket fire.
Though joyful about news of the truce, some Gaza residents, weary of repeated flare-ups, feared that one other round of fighting would erupt before long. “We would like the truce to be based on principles, not like previously when after a peaceful (truce) people died,” said resident Munir Marouf, 43.
Israel launched the most recent round of airstrikes within the early hours of Tuesday, announcing that it was targeting Islamic Jihad commanders who had planned attacks in Israel.
In response, the Iranian-backed group fired greater than 1,000 rockets, sending Israelis fleeing into bomb shelters.
Through the five days of the campaign, Israel killed six senior Islamic Jihad commanders and destroyed a variety of military installations.
Not less than 10 civilians, including women and kids, were also killed in Gaza in the course of the fighting, and two people – an Israeli woman and a Palestinian labourer – were killed by Palestinian rocket fire in Israel.
Islamic Jihad spurns coexistence with Israel and preaches its destruction.
Top ministers of Israel’s religious nationalist government rule out any state sought by Palestinians in territories captured by Israel within the 1967 Middle East war.
