The three-day fighting mimicked previous Gaza wars' preludes, but it was largely restricted since Hamas, the Gaza Strip's ruling Islamist organization and a more potent force than Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, had so far refrained from participating.
Digital Desk: A truce between Israel and the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant organization was announced late on Sunday,
raising expectations that the worst flare-up on the Gaza border in more than a
year might come to an end.
Throughout the weekend, Israeli forces
bombarded Palestinian sites, sparking rocket strikes on Israeli cities that had
mostly subsided by the time the ceasefire went into effect at 23:30. (20:30
GMT).
Israel and Islamic Jihad made the
announcements separately and both expressed gratitude to Egypt for mediating
the ceasefire.
The three-day fighting mimicked previous Gaza wars'
preludes, but it was largely restricted since Hamas, the Gaza Strip's ruling
Islamist organization and a more potent force than Iranian-backed Islamic
Jihad, had so far refrained from participating.
According to officials in Gaza, 44
Palestinians have been killed so far, over half of them were civilians and
children. Residents of cities like Tel Aviv and Ashkelon were forced to seek
cover as a result of the rocket attacks, which endangered much of southern
Israel.
On Friday, Israel began what it referred to
as pre-emptive strikes against what it believed would be an attack by the
Islamic Jihad intended to exact revenge for the detention of the group's
commander, Bassam al-Saadi, in the occupied West Bank.
Islamic Jihad responded by launching a large
number of missiles at Israel. Ziyad al-Nakhala, the group's leader, declared at
a news conference in Tehran that Cairo will "try to achieve the
release" of al-Saadi. Requests for reaction from Israeli and Egyptian
officials were not immediately answered.
The second such senior leader that Islamic
Jihad has lost in the conflict, its southern Gaza commander was killed by
Israel overnight. On Sunday, Islamic Jihad increased its firing range to
include Jerusalem in what it said as revenge.
Israel said that the rockets were shot down
by its Iron Dome interceptor just west of the city. The military said that
others had failed, leading to a number of casualties in Gaza, however Hamas
claimed that Israeli strikes were to blame for all Palestinian fatalities.
After war breakouts in 2008–09, 2012, 2014,
and last year, Palestinians combed through the rubble of destroyed homes to
recover personal property while dazed by the latest wave of bloodshed.
"Who desires war? No one. However, we
also find it difficult to remain silent when leaders, children, and women are
slain "said a cab driver from Gaza who only went by the name Abu Mohammad.
'Eye for an eye'
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