Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza Strip ‘negotiate ceasefire’
Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the blockaded Gaza Strip have reportedly negotiated a ceasefire after a bloody episode of violence that left 21 people in Gaza dead and brought daily life in Tel Aviv to a standstill.
Extra News TV, an Egyptian state-run station which has close ties to the security agencies, said on Wednesday evening that Egyptian officials – who frequently mediate in the conflict – had successfully brokered a pause in the fighting.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the militant group primarily involved in the flare-up in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian enclave.
Shortly after the announcement, more rockets were fired toward Israel, raising questions about if or when a truce would take effect.
Gaza militants fired about 270 rockets into Israel on Wednesday afternoon in response to surprise Israeli airstrikes that began a day before and which killed 21 people, including three Islamic Jihad senior commanders and at least 10 civilians.
Several salvoes in less than an hour set off air raid sirens in towns and cities across southern Israel on Wednesday afternoon, including the country’s commercial and cultural hub, Tel Aviv, 50 miles away.
Israel’s powerful Iron Dome air defence system intercepted at least 62 projectiles, and there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.
The Israeli military also said it had successfully deployed David’s Sling, a new mid-range air defence missile system, for the first time, but did not give further details.
Israelis living in the south of the country, as well as the 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, have been bracing for escalation since Israeli bombings in the early hours of Tuesday targeting senior Islamic Jihad operatives, launched despite a fragile ceasefire in place since last week’s day of cross-frontier exchanges of fire.
On Tuesday, after the initial Israeli bombardment, about 6,500 Israelis were evacuated from their homes near the Gaza periphery by the defence ministry, and schools and several roads were closed in anticipation of a response from Gaza’s militant groups.
Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the larger and more powerful movement in control of the strip, vowed to retaliate, raising fears of further escalation.
Through Egyptian mediators, Israel has relayed that it is solely targeting Islamic Jihad, with whom tensions have flared since the death on hunger strike, in Israeli custody, of Khader Adnan, a prominent political figure affiliated with Islamic Jihad.
Hamas has expressed solidarity with its smaller counterpart, and the two groups often coordinate, but it has largely stayed on the sidelines during recent conflagrations. Given Tuesday’s unusual targeted operation, and the high death toll, however, both groups faced significant pressure to respond.
A joint statement from the factions claiming responsibility for the barrage of fire from Gaza described it as a “broad response”, but Israeli officials appear to be hoping that Hamas does not want to risk a return to full-scale conflict.
Officials in an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) briefing said they had not detected active involvement from the larger group, even though a Hamas spokesperson, Abdellatif al-Kanou, claimed it had participated.
“Our actions are meant to prevent further escalation,” Rear Adm Danny Hagari, the Israeli military’s chief spokesperson, said in a briefing with journalists. “Israel is not interested in war.”
Protracted Israeli strikes across the strip on Tuesday and Wednesday that the IDF said targeted rocket launcher sites killed 21 people and injured 20, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 10 were civilians, including Dr Jamal Hasan, a dentist, who was killed together with his wife, Mirfat, and 20-year-old son Yusef when a missile hit their building. The family’s 13-year-old daughter was left orphaned.
Tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have soared over the past year: more than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in 2023 so far across Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, leading to worries that a return to full-scale conflict is on the horizon.
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the Islamic militant group took seized control of Gaza in 2007, but the West Bank has remained relatively quiet since the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, of the 2000s.
