GAZA/JERUSALEM: Life on both sides of the Gaza Strip border began returning to normal on Sunday after an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire halted five days of fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad, which killed 34 Palestinians and an Israeli.
Leaders from both sides of the conflict confirmed their commitment to the truce, but gave different interpretations of the terms, such as whether Israel would end targeted killings of Palestinian groups’ leaders.
The latest fighting, the longest bout since a 10-day war in 2021, began when Israel launched a series of air strikes in the early hours of Tuesday, announcing that it was targeting Islamic Jihad commanders who had planned attacks against it.
In response, Palestinian group fired more than 1,000 rockets, sending Israelis fleeing into bomb shelters. In areas of southern Israel around Gaza, schools were still closed on Sunday and many of the thousands of residents who had been evacuated had yet to return.
Palestinian health officials said 33 people, including women and children as well as Islamic Jihad fighters, were killed in Gaza. In Israel, an Israeli woman and a Palestinian labourer were killed by Gazan rockets.
Mohammad al Hindi, a senior Islamic Jihad official who co-negotiated a ceasefire in Cairo with Egyptian officials, said in a statement that the group was prepared to halt its rocket launches in exchange for Israel’s agreement to stop targeting houses, civilians, and militant leaders.
“We are committed to the calm agreement as long as the enemy abided by it,” he said.
But Israel denied it had made any such undertakings, saying only that it would it hold fire as long as there was no threat. “I have said time and again: Whoever strikes at us, whoever tries to strike at us, whoever tries to strike us in the future — his blood is forfeit,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
How long the latest ceasefire will hold remained unclear. The latest bout of fighting came only a week after another round of overnight barrages and even as the truce was being finalised, the two sides kept up their firing.
In Gaza, people were picking up the pieces after days of bombardment that Israel said targeted Islamic Jihad command centres and other military infrastructure but which also damaged or destroyed dozens of houses. — Reuters
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