The uneasy truce that came into force on Sunday night between the Palestinian armed group Islamic Jihad and Israel was apparently respected on Monday morning, after three days of hostilities that claimed the lives of 44 Palestinians, including children, in attacks. Israelis in the Gaza Strip. .
The truce, which officially began at 11:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) on Sunday, appeared to be holding four hours later, with neither side reporting a major breach of the agreement.
Strikes just before the truce
Until the last minutes before the beginning of the truce, obtained thanks to Egyptian mediation, the Israeli army said it had carried out attacks against Islamic Jihad positions in Gaza “in response to rockets fired” towards the south of Israeli territory where the sirens sounded alert. The Israeli army said its “last” attack came at 11:25 p.m.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office, announcing the timetable for the truce, said his country “reserves the right to respond firmly to any violation.” He also thanked Egypt, a historical mediator between Israel and the Palestinian armed groups, “for their efforts.”
In Gaza, where it is based, Islamic Jihad confirmed that it would “cease hostilities” from that moment, but also warned that it reserves “the right to respond to any (new) Israeli aggression.”
44 dead in Gaza in three days
The truce agreement establishes, among other things, “Egypt’s commitment to work for the release of two prisoners” of Islamic Jihad held by Israel, the Palestinian group said.
On Sunday, 17 Palestinians, including nine children, were killed in Israeli strikes in Jabaliya, Gaza City and Rafah, said the health ministry of the Palestinian armed movement Hamas, which has ruled the enclave under Israeli blockade for more than fifteen years. years.
Since the start of the Israeli operation in Gaza on Friday, “44 Palestinians have been martyred, including 15 children” and “360 have been injured,” according to a latest ministry report, which also reported entire buildings destroyed in the strikes. . Throughout the day and night, Islamic Jihad had fired salvoes of rockets at Israeli cities and Jerusalem, but the vast majority were intercepted by the Israeli missile defense system, according to the army.
Warning sirens sounded in several cities, Tel Aviv and Ashkelon (south), to warn of rocket fire and residents rushed to shelters.
Three people have been injured in Israel by rocket fire since Friday, according to rescuers. According to the army, hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza since Friday, the vast majority intercepted.
Israeli authorities have also claimed that some of the Palestinians killed may have perished as a result of Islamic Jihad’s failed rocket fire into Israel, which landed on the Palestinian enclave.
In Gaza, the director of al-Shifa hospital said his facility urgently needed medicine and electricity. Gaza’s only power plant was shut down on Saturday due to lack of fuel, four days after Israel closed the crossings with the enclave for security reasons.
“Preemptive Strike”
The Israeli army presented its operation launched on Friday as a “preemptive strike” against Islamic Jihad, during which its top military leaders in Gaza, Tayssir Al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour, were killed along with several fighters from the group.
The death of the military leaders was confirmed by the Islamic Jihad, considered “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union. Yair Lapid called the attack that killed Khaled Mansour on Saturday an “extraordinary result”.
The Israeli authorities justified their operation by fear of reprisals from Islamic Jihad after the arrest of Bassem al-Saadi on August 1 in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
The confrontation between Israel and Islamic Jihad is the worst since May 2021 between Israel and Hamas. The latter had killed 260 Palestinians in eleven days, including fighters, and 14 dead in Israel, including a soldier, according to local authorities.
Source: BFM TV
