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A Palestinian woman cries over the rubble of her house that was destroyed by the Israeli bombing in Gaza
An Egyptian statement called for a “comprehensive and mutual” cease-fire between Islamic Jihad and Israel.
According to the text of the statement, a copy of which was obtained by the BBC, Cairo calls for a ceasefire as of 11:30 pm local time (8:30 pm GMT).
Egypt affirmed, according to the statement, its commitment to work for the release of the detainee Khalil Awawda and his transfer to treatment, as well as to work for the release of the leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement Bassam al-Saadi “as soon as possible.”
The escalation continued between Israel and gunmen in the Gaza Strip this evening.
According to the reports received, there were deaths and injuries in new Israeli raids on the Strip. Militants also fired intense rocket salvoes from Gaza towards Israel.
An Israeli air strike on a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza killed a man and his three children. This brings the death toll since the start of the Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip on Friday to 43 people, including 15 children and 4 women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A source close to Hamas told the BBC, earlier, that the ceasefire agreement will allow Israel to ease the siege on the Strip, and start bringing in goods and fuel through the Kerem Shalom commercial crossing.
An Egyptian intelligence delegation arrived in Israel on Saturday as part of Cairo’s efforts to mediate a ceasefire between the Israeli army and the Islamic Jihad movement.
It is noteworthy that the latest escalation is the fiercest since the war that took place in May 2021 and lasted 11 days.
Clashes have so far been limited because Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has refrained from attacking Israel.
Israel says Islamic Jihad has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in recent days, most of which have been intercepted by the Israeli defense system.
There were no reports of injuries on the Israeli side.
There were also no reports of Israeli raids targeting Hamas sites, which might have made the latter participate in the escalation.
Large crowds gathered on Sunday for the funeral of the victims of the Israeli raids in Rafah, including the leader of the Islamic Jihad movement Khaled Mansour, who was killed in the latest bombing.
Demonstrations took place to express solidarity with Gaza in the city of Nablus in the West Bank.
The news of a possible ceasefire came amid concern over the humanitarian situation in the Strip, as officials warned that fuel in hospitals would not supply generators for more than two days.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza blamed Israel for dozens of deaths and hundreds of wounded residents of the Strip.
Israel, in turn, accused the Islamic Jihad movement of partial responsibility for the killing, as it claimed that the movement fired rockets that killed children in Jabalia. The BBC was unable to verify this claim from independent sources.
The latest escalation comes following the Israeli forces arrested the leader of the Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank, Bassam Al-Saadi, on Monday night.
Al-Saadi was arrested in a military operation carried out by the Israeli forces in the Jenin area, following operations carried out by people from the West Bank and Israel, which led to the killing of 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians. Two of the attackers came from the Jenin area.
Israel began bombing targets in Gaza last Friday, which led to the killing of two leaders of the Islamic Jihad movement, in addition to dozens of others. The movement responded by firing rockets at separate areas in Israel.
photo released, Archyde.com
Gaza
Israeli officials said that the vast majority of the missiles that reached Israeli airspace were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, without causing any Israeli casualties.
Israel had said its raids, which began on Friday, were preemptive strikes once morest what it expected to be an Islamic Jihad attack.
On Sunday morning, Islamic Jihad expanded its range of fire towards Jerusalem. The Jihad movement said in a statement that “the blood of the martyrs will not be in vain.”
Israeli officials have warned that hundreds of rockets fired by Islamic Jihad are the reason the operation is continuing.
The Jihad movement receives support from Iran, and it has a headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The movement was responsible for several attacks, including the firing of rockets into Israel in November 2019.
At that time, battles took place between Israel and the militants of the Islamic Jihad movement for five days, following Israel killed a leader in the movement, which it says was planning attacks once morest it.
The clashes resulted in the killing of 34 Palestinians and the wounding of 111 others, while 63 Israelis needed medical aid.
Israel said 25 of the Palestinian dead were militants.
