The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip announced early this morning that a ceasefire had been reached with Israel to end two days of fierce clashes that have left at least 34 Palestinians dead.
The extremist organization's spokesman, Musab al-Berim, said that the deal brokered by Egypt entered into force at 5,30:XNUMX a.m. local time.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which rarely publishes deals with extremist organizations in Gaza, but some restrictions were lifted for residents of the southern Israeli territory despite the firing of several rockets.
Al Berim said the ceasefire was based on a list of demands presented by the organization late last night, including an end to targeted killings of its leaders.
Clashes erupted early on Tuesday after the Israeli military killed a high-ranking Islamic Jihad commander in an airstrike that Israel held responsible for a series of recent rocket attacks and believed to be planning a cross-border injection.
The targeted killing sparked the fiercest clashes with extremists in Gaza since May.
The Islamic Jihad fired about 400 rockets at Israel, and that country responded with dozens of airstrikes.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Izrael Katz estimated that the policy of targeted killings has proven to be effective and will continue despite claims of a ceasefire.
Islamic extremist Hamas, which rules Gaza and is much larger and stronger than Islamic Jihad, has not intervened in the latest conflict, suggesting it will not last long.
Palestinian officials said 34 people were killed in Gaza, including a seven-year-old boy and six members of a family.
Among the dead are at least 16 extremists.
Rocket fire from Gaza in retaliation for the killing of an Islamic Jihad commander has paralyzed life across southern Israel, with classes canceled, missile warning sirens blaring non-stop and people staying indoors.
Gaza looked like a ghost town, there were almost no cars on the streets, except for an ambulance evacuating the wounded.
After the Islamic Jihad spokesman announced the ceasefire, at least two rockets were fired from Gaza and sirens sounded again.
It was not immediately clear who fired them and whether it was intentional.
However, Islamic Jihad said it was committed to ending the conflict and that the rockets were fired because not all members had been informed of the cessation of violence.
Israel does not publicize deals with extremist organizations, but UN and Islamic Jihad officials were in contact Wednesday with Egyptian mediators who usually broker deals to end the violence, and the Israeli military did not respond to the firing of several rockets.
However, restrictions remained in place in several places near the Gaza Strip.
In that Palestinian territory, there are vehicles on the streets again, but Israeli drones are heard flying overhead.
Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakalah late last night announced three conditions for a ceasefire, including a halt to targeted killings, an end to Israeli firing on protesters during weekly protests on the Gaza border and an end to a 12-year Israeli blockade that has devastated the Palestinian economy.
Israel imposed the blockade when Hamas seized control of Gaza by force in 2007 from the internationally recognized and backed Palestinian Authority.
The Jewish state considers Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which seek to destroy it, to be terrorist organizations.
Israel confirmed the ceasefire
The Israeli army announced that the two-day clashes in Gaza have ended, thus confirming the ceasefire announced earlier today by the extremist group Islamic Jihad.
The spokesman of the Israeli army, Avichai Adrae, announced on Twitter that the operation had ended and that 25 extremists from Gaza, mostly members of the Islamic Jihad, were targeted by Israel.
As he stated, the target of the Israeli airstrikes was the "terrorist infrastructure" above and below the ground.
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