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Gaza attacks: tentative truce after Israel strike kills six Palestinian family members Gaza attacks: tentative truce after Israel strike kills six Palestinian family members
(about 2 hours later)
Islamic Jihad says truce has begun as Israel says ‘quiet will be answered with quiet’, following two days of clashesIslamic Jihad says truce has begun as Israel says ‘quiet will be answered with quiet’, following two days of clashes
The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad said it was holding fire from the Gaza Strip on Thursday after Israel agreed to an Egyptian-mediated truce, calming the worst surge in fighting in months. Israel and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad have agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire, halting the worst bout of fighting in months.
The truce was declared from 0330 GMT, the group’s spokesman, Musab Al-Braim, said, marking about 48 hours since Israel sparked the exchange of fire by killing the faction’s top Gaza commander in an air strike, deeming him an imminent threat. The truce went into effect from 5.30am local time (0330 GMT), hours after medical officials said an Israeli bombing had killed eight members of a Palestinian family, including five children, who were sleeping at their family home.
A total of 34 Palestinians, almost half of them civilians, were killed, while hundreds of rocket launches by militants paralysed much of southern Israel. Hamas, Gaza’s dominant faction, stayed out of the fighting. Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab Al-Braim announced the agreement. It came roughly 48 hours after Israel sparked the fighting when it assassinated the faction’s top Gaza commander and his wife in an airstrike. Israel’s army had accused Baha Abu al-Ata of multiple recent attacks, calling him a “ticking bomb”.
An Egyptian official contacted by Reuters confirmed a truce had been reached. Israel’s Army Radio said emergency regulations imposed on areas within range of Gaza rockets were being eased. A total of 34 Palestinians, almost half of them civilians, were killed as Israel bombarded Gaza for two days. In the same time, around 400 rockets were launched by militants into Israel, causing panic as civilians fled for bomb shelters.
Israel said it would observe a quid-pro-quo of holding fire if Palestinian militants did so first. Israel’s military said its Iron Dome defence system, which intercepts incoming projectiles, had a 90% success rate in downing rockets heading for residential areas. There were no Israeli deaths, although three people were wounded by shrapnel or debris. One rocket narrowly missed cars on a busy motorway.
“Quiet will be answered with quiet,” foreign minister, Israel Katz, told Army Radio, denying there were wider policy reviews. While the country rarely acknowledges it makes deals with organisations it deems terrorists, Israel said it would observe a quid-pro-quo truce, and airstrikes appeared to have stopped. Emergency regulations imposed on Israeli civilians within range of Gaza rockets, including restrictions on moving around, were also being eased.
Israeli targeted killings “will not cease,” he said, and “the open-fire policy for which the Israel Defence Forces is responsible (at the Gaza border) will not change“. “Quiet will be answered with quiet,” foreign minister Israel Katz told Army Radio. Israeli targeted killings “will not cease”, he added.
Gaza appeared to have fallen mostly silent at the hour cited by Islamic Jihad, with the exception of a lone rocket launch witnessed by a Reuters correspondent and the sounding of sirens in some outlying Israeli towns. In Gaza, the ministry of health said an Israeli missile strike killed eight members the Abu Malhous family, including five children and two women, when their family home in Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip was struck.
Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli missile strike killed six members of a Palestinian family and wounded 12 people, all of them civilians, medical officials and residents said. Israel’s Army Radio said the head of the family, who was among the dead, was a Palestinian rocket commander. This was not immediately confirmed.
Israel’s Army Radio said the head of the family, who was among the dead, was a Palestinian rocket commander. This could not immediately be confirmed by Reuters. The Israeli military said it was investigating the civilian deaths in the incident. A United Nations Middle East peace envoy, who had mediated a truce alongside Egypt, warned the Gaza calm could easily break down.
The United Nations, which had mediated a truce alongside Egypt, suggested the Gaza situation could still prove tenuous. “The coming hours and days will be critical. ALL must show maximum restraint and do their part to prevent bloodshed. The Middle East does not need more wars,” tweeted Nickolay Mladenov.
“The coming hours and days will be critical. ALL must show maximum restraint and do their part to prevent bloodshed. The Middle East does not need more wars,” tweeted UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov. Israel and militants in Gaza have frequently clashed during the past two years, with Israeli jets and helicopters bombing the strip while Palestinian fighters launch projectiles on nearby Israeli towns and cities. Normally the flare-ups die down after a day or two.
This week’s fighting was unusual, however, in that Hamas, the dominant faction that governs Gaza and has fought three wars with Israel, remained out of the exchanges.
Israel normally holds Hamas accountable for any attacks originating out of Gaza, but the two sides agreed to a longterm ceasefire earlier this year. That deal appeared to be holding and Israel said this week that its targets were confined to Islamic Jihad.
Reuters contributed to this report