2023-05-03 01:30:00
3/5/2023–|Last updated: 3/5/202305:42 AM (Makkah)
A source in the Palestinian resistance stated that a cease-fire between the Palestinian factions and the Israeli occupation entered into force today, Wednesday, after a new escalation that followed the martyrdom of the leader of the Islamic Jihad movement, Khader Adnan, in the occupation prisons, following a long hunger strike.
The source confirmed to Al-Jazeera that the agreement will be simultaneous and conditional on the commitment of the two parties, explaining that it was the result of several parties entering the mediation line to stop the Israeli escalation against the Strip.
For his part, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that a cautious calm prevailed in the Gaza Strip after the armistice came into effect.
About an hour after the agreement came into effect, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the settlements in the Gaza Strip, indicating that Iron Dome was trying to intercept them.
For its part, the Israeli army said that warning sirens sounded in areas around the Gaza Strip.
After reaching a truce, a spokesman for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) praised the performance of the Joint Operations Room of the resistance factions in the battle to respond to the martyrdom of the leader, Khader Adnan, after he had been on hunger strike for 87 days, saying that the room presented an honorable national field unity in this round against the occupation.
Rocket strikes and bursts
Before the armistice was announced, the Israeli air forces launched a series of raids early today and Tuesday evening on resistance sites in Gaza, and the Palestinian factions responded by firing more missiles at the settlements bordering the Strip and the city of Ashkelon.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that Israeli raids targeted several sites of the Palestinian resistance in separate areas of the Gaza Strip.
And the Israeli army spoke earlier today of an intense attack on the sites of the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, in response to the rocket fire.
The Israeli army said – in a statement – that it had bombed a compound in the Gaza Strip that Hamas was using as a training camp, adding that the attack aimed to harm Hamas’s ability to strengthen and arm itself.
The occupation army also said that Hamas bears responsibility for what is happening in the Gaza Strip, and will pay the price for what it described as security violations against Israel.
In turn, the Palestinian resistance factions said that they had fired rockets at the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, before the Israeli Channel 13 reported that the mayor of Ashkelon had ordered the opening of shelters after rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip.
For its part, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, said that its air defenses had responded to the invading aircraft over the Gaza Strip with surface-to-air missiles.
The Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement, also announced that it had confronted the Israeli air force with surface-to-air missiles.
Another video The moment a missile launch from the northern Gaza Strip towards the settlements of the cover pic.twitter.com/R1mC1F6jhg
– Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the resistance, in turn, responded by firing rocket-propelled grenades from the Gaza Strip in conjunction with the Israeli raids on the Strip, as warning sirens sounded in the settlements of Sderot, Efim and Nir’am adjacent to the Gaza Strip.
The Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported that the Palestinian factions fired more than 70 rockets from the Strip towards the settlements around the Gaza Strip since Tuesday morning.
In turn, the Israeli Channel 12 reported that the range of Palestinian rocket fire is expanding, for the first time during the current confrontation, the Merhavim area is being bombed with a range of up to 23 kilometers, according to the channel.
Earlier, the Israeli occupation army said that it monitored the firing of 22 rocket shells from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and 6 mortar shells, injuring 5 people, who were moderately and slightly injured.
Al-Jazeera correspondent reported damage to homes in the northern Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli raids, while a medical source told Al-Jazeera that no injuries had been recorded so far as a result of the Israeli bombing.
video| Occupation raids on a resistance site west of Khan Yunis pic.twitter.com/Q8exxZp9lS
– Shehab News Agency (@ShehabAgency) May 2, 2023
Communications and initial response
Before announcing a truce, Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau, said he was in contact with Egypt and Qatar to stop the aggression on Gaza, and Haniyeh held the Israeli occupation responsible for what might result from the continuation of the aggression on the Strip.
Hamas said that the Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip will fail to achieve its objectives by preventing the resistance from carrying out its duty to defend its people and symbols.
The movement added – in a statement – that the resistance will continue to defend its people despite the crimes of the Israeli occupation.
For his part, a source in the Palestinian resistance told Al-Jazeera that there would be no calm unless the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stopped completely.
The joint room of the Palestinian resistance factions had said that targeting the settlements was a preliminary response to the martyrdom of the leader, Khader Adnan, and the room had warned Israel that its persistence in aggression would not remain unanswered.
And before that, Hebrew sources revealed that Israel is heading to respond to the rocket fire from Gaza “in a strong way”, after a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with senior security leaders, to discuss ways to respond to the firing of rockets by resistance factions at Israeli settlements.
In the same context, the official Hebrew channel “Kan” said on Tuesday evening that Israel is preparing for a round of escalation with the Gaza Strip, “which may last for several days.”
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper also said that Israel will respond to rocket fire from Gaza with force and on a larger scale than usual, according to the newspaper’s expression.
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