A cease-fire reached between the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad and Israel was holding after Egyptian-led negotiations produced an agreement late Saturday, ending fighting that began last week and preventing a deeper military embroilment.
(Bloomberg) — A cease-fire reached between the Iran-backed Islamic Jihad and Israel was holding after Egyptian-led negotiations produced an agreement late Saturday, ending fighting that began last week and preventing a deeper military embroilment.
“We will abide by the cease-fire agreement as long as the Israeli enemy adheres to it,” Muhammed al-Hindi of Islamic Jihad told Cairo News Television. Israel’s National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi said in an emailed statement that the Israeli government’s acceptance of the Egyptian initiative meant “quiet will be met with quiet,” and if attacked, Israel would “do everything it needs to in order to defend itself.”
In Gaza, 33 people died in the fighting, among them seven militants, Palestinian health officials said. In Israel, two people were killed by rockets, one a Palestinian worker from Gaza.
An Israeli army official put the Palestinian death toll at 32 saying that 21 of those killed were combatants, nine were civilians, and another three died in a failed rocket launch.
Gaza’s ruling militant Hamas movement, which like Islamic Jihad is backed by Iran, didn’t join the fray, helping to contain the fighting.
The US., which had urged the sides to stop the bloodshed, welcomed the cease-fire and commended Egypt’s crucial role in its mediation, urging quick delivery of fuel and other critical supplies into Gaza before the power station was completely depleted on Monday.
Hundreds of rockets were fired toward Israel’s south and Tel Aviv-area heartland during the confrontation, and dozens of air assaults targeted Gaza rocket launchers, a rocket manufacturing site and other Islamic Jihad positions, the Israeli military said.
Israel embarked upon this latest campaign after Islamic Jihad bombarded it with more than 100 rockets last week following the death of a fighter who had been on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison. It was the most violent confrontation between Israel and Gaza militants since August 2022.
Palestinian Militant’s Death in Israeli Jail Sparks Fighting (1)
More than 100 Palestinians, including dozens of militants, have been killed in the West Bank this year. Palestinian attacks against Israel have killed at least 20 people.
–With assistance from Amy Teibel.
(Updates with numbers of deaths in third and fourth grafs)
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