Ceasefire brings end to rocket bombardment
Palestinian terror groups in Gaza have reportedly agreed to commit to a ceasefire of hostilities that have seen more than 400 rockets bombard southern Israel in a 25-hour period.
PALESTINIAN terror groups in Gaza have reportedly agreed to commit to a ceasefire of hostilities that have seen more than 400 rockets bombard southern Israel in a 25-hour period.
Four mediators — Egypt, the United Nations, Norway and Switzerland — helped achieve the ceasefire, according to reports.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a joint statement, according to reports, that they are “committed to the ceasefire as long as Israel doesn’t break it and doesn’t attack the Palestinian people”.
The terms were negotiated to go into effect on Tuesday afternoon, but rockets continued to be fired from Gaza. Since the announcement by the Gaza groups later on Tuesday, however, rockets have not been fired.
An unnamed senior Israeli official told the local media that “Israel maintains its right to act.”
“Requests from Hamas for a ceasefire came through four different mediators. Israel responded that the events on the ground will decide” whether there will be a ceasefire, the official said.
The announcement came shortly after Israel’s Security Cabinet emerged from a seven-hour meeting and released a short statement saying that the Israel Defence Forces was instructed to “continue its strikes as needed”.
Four government ministers were reported to be opposed to a ceasefire, the Israeli media reported, naming them as Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party; Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked of the Jewish Home party; Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who heads Jewish Home; and Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin of the Likud party.
Among the some 460 rockets fired by Palestinian factions in Gaza, more than 100 were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system, according to the Israel Defence Forces.
The IDF struck 160 targets belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organisations, as well as four government installations used for military purposes. Several of the targets were six and seven-storey buildings, which had “a very significant effect on the other side,” a senior Air Force officer said in an IDF statement.
One person was killed and dozens injured in the rocket attacks from Gaza. Several homes and buildings were hit by the rockets. Seven Palestinians were reported killed in the Israeli attacks on Gaza terror sites.
The Jerusalem Post reported that residents of Gaza border communities in southern Israel burned tyres and blocked roads in Sderot and Nir Am, protesting against the ceasefire, claiming this latest cessation of hostilities is simply more of the same in a cycle of violence which has them sheltering in safe rooms on a regular basis.
Zionist Union leader Avi Gabbay said “the residents of the south who are protesting are right. The government continues to abandon them.”
“For four years, [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu abandoned the residents of the periphery and neglected the Gaza issue. Just like he escaped from dealing with housing prices, the health system and roads.
“The nightmare that the residents of the south have undergone today is Netanyahu’s responsibility,” Gabbay continued. “It is possible to change the reality around us. This is not the time for another fragile ceasefire. This is the time for a genuine political initiative in Gaza, based on the recommendations of the defence establishment.”
JTA, JERUSALEM POST
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