A ceasefire agreement came into effect on Saturday night after five days of fighting between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip, which has left 35 dead.

According to an Egyptian official and Palestinian sources familiar with the deal, Cairo, which traditionally plays the role of mediator between the parties, secured consent from both sides for a ceasefire to take effect at 10 p.m. [σ.σ. τοπική ώρα και ώρα Ελλάδας].

But a few rockets were fired about a quarter of an hour after the ceasefire theoretically took effect, followed by Israeli strikes, before calm appeared to be restored and Palestinians took to the streets of the Gaza Strip, which had been deserted for days, by the hundreds.

According to the Israeli military, two more rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip after 23:00, causing no casualties, apart from three people who were injured as they rushed to shelters, according to Israeli emergency services.

The deadly escalation of violence this week was the worst since last August. It began on Tuesday, with Israeli strikes that killed three members of the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, which Israel, the EU and the US designate as a “terrorist” group.

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad thanked Egypt for its mediation.

“The two sides have agreed to declare a ceasefire from 22:00,” Mohammad al-Hindi, an official of the political arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed to AFP.

Tchai Hanegbi, Israel’s national security adviser, also appeared to indirectly but explicitly confirm the ceasefire, but warned that Israel would retaliate against further attacks, thanking Egypt for its “great efforts”, according to a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office. Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Calm” for “calm”

“Israel’s response to the Egyptian initiative” was that “the response to calm will be calm and that if Israel is attacked or threatened it will continue to do what it needs to do to defend itself,” according to Mr Hanegby.

For his part, Al-Hindi referred to a commitment by Israel to stop targeting militants. “Israel made commitments that had never existed before” and “the resistance made progress in this regard,” he said.

Until last night Saturday the Gaza Strip was living to the rhythm of Israeli airstrikes and the zones of Israel neighboring the tiny Palestinian coastal enclave to that of sirens warning of incoming rockets, which meant they had to go to shelters.

Gen. Herchi Halevi, the chief of Israel’s national defense general staff, expressed his satisfaction shortly before the cease-fire took effect because his forces had achieved what he said were “important objectives” in “this campaign.”

On the other hand, in the Gaza Strip, under a suffocating Israeli blockade after Hamas took power in the enclave there in 2007, the interior ministry accused the Israeli army of focusing its strikes on “non-military targets” and “apartment buildings”.

Yesterday afternoon, according to the Israeli army, a rocket fell on a rural area in Soketa, less than ten kilometers from the Gaza Strip, injuring a Palestinian land worker, whose death was later confirmed in a hospital.

The death brought to 34 the number of Palestinians killed in hostilities since Tuesday. On the Israeli side, a woman in her eighties was killed on Thursday in Rehovot, central Israel.

6 commanders, 13 civilians

AFP journalists found yesterday new material damage from Israeli strikes in residential areas in Beit Lahiyya, Gaza (north), as well as in Deir el Bala (central).

Among the 34 dead Palestinians are 6 officers of the military arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, fighters of the organization, as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP), another armed movement.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed the death of at least 13 Palestinian civilians, including seven children. The Israeli military said four civilians, including three children, were killed by Palestinian rockets fired into the Gaza Strip.

Chahal also reported that since Tuesday 371 “targets” had been hit and that 1,230 rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel, of which more than 370 were intercepted by the air defense system and 970 entered Israeli airspace.

The Gaza Strip, a tiny enclave plagued by poverty and unemployment with 2.3 million Palestinian residents, has been the scene of several wars between Palestinian armed movements and Israel since 2008.

In August 2022, three days of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad left 49 dead on the Palestinian side, including 19 children, according to the UN. More than a thousand rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel, with three injured, according to Israeli authorities.