Israelis, Palestinians welcome truce but fear more violence

Palestinian leaders in Gaza agreed to a ceasefire with Israel on Monday to end a deadly two-day escalation in violence that threatened to widen into a fourth war between them since 2008.

An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the deal, but there appeared to have been no rocket fire or Israeli strikes afterwards, an AFP correspondent in Gaza said.

Israel also lifted restrictions on civilian movements in communities around the Gaza border on Monday morning.

Egypt brokered the agreement to cease hostilities from 4:30 am (0130 GMT), an official from the strip’s rulers Hamas and another from its allied group said on condition of anonymity.

An Egyptian official also confirmed the deal on condition of anonymity.

It came after the most serious flare-up in violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since a 2014 war.

The escalation began Saturday with massive rocket fire from Gaza, drawing waves of Israeli retaliatory strikes, and continued throughout Sunday.

At least 25 Palestinians, including at least nine militants, were killed.

Four Israeli civilians were also killed.

The flare-up came as Hamas sought further steps from Israel toward easing its blockade under a previous ceasefire brokered by Egypt and the United Nations.

Israel at the same time faced pressure to restore calm and put an end to the rockets hitting communities in the country’s south.

It commemorates the country’s Memorial and Independence Days later this week and is due to host the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv from May 14-18, which is expected to draw thousands to Israel.

On the Gazan side, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began Monday.

Palestinian officials in Gaza accused Israel of not taking steps to ease its blockade as promised under previous ceasefire deals.

The Hamas said the new truce agreement was again based on Israel easing its blockade.

Among the steps, he said, were the relaxing of limits on fishing and improvements in Gaza’s electricity and fuel situation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not address the ceasefire in a Monday statement, but said: “We’ve forcefully struck Hamas and other groups.”

“The battle is not over and demands patience and discretion,” he said.

Israeli opposition politicians — and at least one from Netanyahu’s own party — criticised the agreement.

Former military chief Benny Gantz, who challenged Netanyahu in Israel’s April 9 general elections, called it “capitulation to blackmail.”

Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the escalation brought them to the brink of another.

The Palestinian dead included a commander for Hamas’s armed wing who Israel said it targeted due to his role in transferring money from Iran to militant groups in Gaza.

It was a rare admission of a targeted killing by Israel’s army, and Netanyahu spoke Monday of having “renewed the policy of eliminating senior terrorists”.

The army said its tanks and planes hit some 350 militant targets in Gaza in response.

Several buildings in Gaza City were destroyed, including one Israel said included Hamas military intelligence and security offices.

Turkey said its state news agency Anadolu had an office in the building and strongly denounced the strike.

Gaza’s health ministry said the dead from the Israeli strikes included a 14-month-old baby and a pregnant woman, 37.

Israel strongly disputed the claim and said errant Hamas fire was responsible for their deaths.

The Gazan ministry reported late Sunday that another four-month-old baby was among those killed in Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel’s army had no comment.

Egyptian and UN officials held talks throughout to reach a truce, as they have done repeatedly in the past, and there were international calls for calm.

US President Donald Trump, for his part, assured Israel on Sunday that it had Washington’s full support against “these terrorist acts”.

The escalation followed a gradual uptick in violence that threatened a previous ceasefire, including Friday clashes along the Gaza border that were the most violent in weeks.

Agencies