Cautious end to five days of fighting
Israel, US and UN have thanked Egypt for its role in mediating the delicate ceasefire with PIJ in Gaza over the weekend.
Israel, the United States, and the United Nations thanked Egypt for its role in mediating a delicate ceasefire with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror group in Gaza on Saturday night, bringing five days of intense fighting between the two sides to a cautious end.
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi offered his gratitude to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for his efforts to broker the agreement, according to a brief statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hanegbi stressed that “quiet will be answered with quiet, and if Israel is attacked and threatened, it will do everything it needs to in order to protect itself”.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said US officials “worked closely with regional partners to achieve this resolution to the hostilities to prevent further loss of life and restore calm for both Israelis and Palestinians”.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement the US “commends Egypt’s crucial role in mediating the ceasefire agreement, which will prevent the further loss of civilian lives”.
“We also recognise Qatar’s robust efforts to de-escalate the situation and end the hostilities, as well as the international community’s support for the ceasefire.”
The ceasefire took effect just after 10pm on Saturday, with a last-minute burst of rocket fire from Gaza, as sirens sounded in southern and central Israel, and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes stretching several minutes past the deadline announced by Cairo. Late on Saturday night, Israel reported additional incoming fire and said it again struck in Gaza, targeting two underground rocket launchers belonging to Islamic Jihad.
But the calm appeared to be quickly restored, ending an operation that included Israeli assassinations of Islamic Jihad leaders in Gaza and airstrikes that targeted 371 sites belonging to the terror group. Over the course of the five-day operation, Israel killed 18 Islamic Jihad operatives in addition to at least 10 Palestinian civilians, an IDF official said. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry put the death toll at 33, but the IDF official noted that some Gaza civilians were likely killed by Islamic Jihad rockets that landed inside the Strip. Another 151 Palestinians in Gaza were injured, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
PIJ launched over 1200 rockets at Israel over the course of the week, killing two civilians – 80-year-old Rehovot woman Inga Avramyan, who died as she tried to help her paralysed husband reach shelter, and Abu Jaba, 34, a labourer from Gaza who was working in a greenhouse near the southern Israeli town of Shokeda.
According to the military, at least 976 projectiles crossed the border, while 221 fell short in Gaza.
The IDF said air defence systems – Iron Dome and the medium-range David’s Sling – intercepted 373 of the rockets, marking a 91 per cent interception rate of projectiles heading for populated areas.
Most rockets targeted towns in southern Israel, but some reached as far north as Tel Aviv. At least 77 Israelis were also wounded in the rocket attacks.
The military also said it had carried out strikes against 371 targets belonging to Islamic Jihad during the campaign.
UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process Tor Wennesland called on Israel and Islamic Jihad to observe the ceasefire on Saturday and said he was “deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries, including children and women, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and the indiscriminate firing of rockets toward Israel by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant groups”.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanua said the round of violence ended as a “victory for the resistance”.
The so-called “Joint Operations Room” of various Palestinian terror factions including Hamas and Islamic Jihad warned in a statement that their “finger was on the trigger” if Israel resumed its policy of assassinating terror groups’ commanders.
National Unity party chair Benny Gantz, a former defence minister and IDF chief who is also a key member of the opposition, welcomed the ceasefire announcement, tweeting that “the State of Israel and Israelis proved once again in recent days their strength and sent a clear message to terror organisations – against our enemies, we stand together, as one powerful fist.”
Times of Israel/Agencies
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