Israel-Gaza: An overnight ceasefire after days of violence
The Egypt-brokered truce followed three days of violence with Israel targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and militants fired rockets into Israel.
At least 44 Palestinians died in May 2021 in the most severe flare-up since 11 days of conflict.
On Monday, Israel began lifting its blockade of the strip, allowing the first fuel tanks to enter.
The latest violence began with attacks by Israel on sites in the Gaza Strip, which its military said were in response to threats from a terrorist group. This comes after days of tension after Israel arrested a senior PIJ member in the occupied West Bank.
As of Sunday evening, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that of the 44 deaths recorded, 15 had been confirmed children.
Gaza's health ministry has blamed "Israeli aggression" for the Palestinian deaths and more than 300 wounded.
Israel, for its part, says it struck 170 PIJ targets during the operation, codenamed Breaking Dawn, killed several high-ranking PIJ members and destroyed tunnels and weapons storage sites.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had information on 35 Palestinian deaths: "11 of them were civilian casualties, including the wives of the commanders of the terrorist group in the south - victims of the IDF attacks." "
"Another 15 civilians were killed in the P.I.J fire," Brigadier General Ran Kochav said.
General Kochov said that 1,100 projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip during the flare-up, of which 200 landed inside Gaza.
He said more Palestinians had died from rockets that were detonated inside the strip by IDF fire, and added that Israel would investigate the deaths of civilians, including children.
There were no Israeli casualties, except for a few people with minor injuries from the rubble on Saturday.
Israel-Palestinian conflict explained
Children who died in the 2021 conflict
The ceasefire was mediated by Egypt, which in the past has acted as a mediator between Israel and Gaza.
But as it went into effect late Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed it was attacking Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) targets in Gaza, in response to rockets fired just before it.
Israeli media also reported a few separate rockets fired from Gaza in the minutes after the deadline.
US and UN leaders urged both sides to continue to observe the ceasefire.
In a statement, US President Joe Biden praised the ceasefire and called on all sides "enforce fully and ensure that fuel and humanitarian supplies are flowing into Gaza".
He also urged that the reports of civilian casualties should be investigated in a time bound manner.
Concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where health officials warned that hospitals only had enough fuel to run generators for two days, led to a ceasefire agreement.
Post a Comment