Gaza Truce Largely Holds After Flare-Up
GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – A truce between the Zionist regime and Hamas, that controls the Gaza Strip, largely held on Saturday a day after one of the fiercest flare-ups along the region in years.
Hamas said it had agreed to the truce with the Zionist regime, a day after clashes killed a Zionist trooper and four Palestinians.
A senior Zionist official confirmed a truce was in place. The occupying regime’s military declined to comment on the ceasefire but a military spokeswoman said civilians could resume normal activities.
In what appeared to be an isolated incident, with no reports of casualties, an Israeli tank fired on a post in Gaza, the military said.
There were no other reports of unrest in the area by 1300 GMT on Saturday.
On Friday, Palestinian gunmen killed a Zionist trooper and the Israeli military launched dozens of strikes that killed three Hamas fighters. A fourth Palestinian was killed by the Zionist regime’s gunfire during a protest near the border.
"With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between (the Zionist regime) and Palestinian factions,” said Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for Hamas.
The Zionist trooper was the first member of the occupying regime’s army to be killed on the Gaza front since a seven-week 2014 war between the regime and Hamas, a military spokesman said.
During the flare-up which lasted several hours, the Zionist military said its jets and tanks hit 68 Hamas targets, and destroyed "buildings and infrastructures and revoked significant military and command and control capabilities.”
The deceased Gazans were identified as Mohammed Abu Farhana and Shaaban Abu Khater.
A third Palestinian was killed after Israeli jets carried out airstrikes east of the border town of Rafah. He was identified as Mahmoud Qeshta.
According to Palestinian medical sources, another Palestinian, identified as Mohammed Sharif Badwan, was killed in the Zeitoun district of Gaza.
Separately, two Palestinians were wounded when Zionist troops opened fire at Palestinian houses east of Abasan city. A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot and is now in critical condition.
Shortly after the Zionist attacks, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, called on both sides to "step back from the brink” of war.
"Everyone in Gaza needs to step back from the brink. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Right NOW”, he tweeted, adding, "Those who want to provoke Palestinians and Israelis into another war must not succeed.”
Nearly 150 Palestinians have been killed by Zionist troops ever since the "Great March of Return” began in the Gaza Strip on March 30.
A total of 14,811 Palestinians have also sustained injuries of whom 366 are reportedly in critical condition.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza have agreed to a ceasefire with the Zionist regime.
Hamas said it had agreed to the truce with the Zionist regime, a day after clashes killed a Zionist trooper and four Palestinians.
A senior Zionist official confirmed a truce was in place. The occupying regime’s military declined to comment on the ceasefire but a military spokeswoman said civilians could resume normal activities.
In what appeared to be an isolated incident, with no reports of casualties, an Israeli tank fired on a post in Gaza, the military said.
There were no other reports of unrest in the area by 1300 GMT on Saturday.
On Friday, Palestinian gunmen killed a Zionist trooper and the Israeli military launched dozens of strikes that killed three Hamas fighters. A fourth Palestinian was killed by the Zionist regime’s gunfire during a protest near the border.
"With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between (the Zionist regime) and Palestinian factions,” said Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for Hamas.
The Zionist trooper was the first member of the occupying regime’s army to be killed on the Gaza front since a seven-week 2014 war between the regime and Hamas, a military spokesman said.
During the flare-up which lasted several hours, the Zionist military said its jets and tanks hit 68 Hamas targets, and destroyed "buildings and infrastructures and revoked significant military and command and control capabilities.”
The deceased Gazans were identified as Mohammed Abu Farhana and Shaaban Abu Khater.
A third Palestinian was killed after Israeli jets carried out airstrikes east of the border town of Rafah. He was identified as Mahmoud Qeshta.
According to Palestinian medical sources, another Palestinian, identified as Mohammed Sharif Badwan, was killed in the Zeitoun district of Gaza.
Separately, two Palestinians were wounded when Zionist troops opened fire at Palestinian houses east of Abasan city. A 14-year-old Palestinian boy was also shot and is now in critical condition.
Shortly after the Zionist attacks, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, called on both sides to "step back from the brink” of war.
"Everyone in Gaza needs to step back from the brink. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Right NOW”, he tweeted, adding, "Those who want to provoke Palestinians and Israelis into another war must not succeed.”
Nearly 150 Palestinians have been killed by Zionist troops ever since the "Great March of Return” began in the Gaza Strip on March 30.
A total of 14,811 Palestinians have also sustained injuries of whom 366 are reportedly in critical condition.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza have agreed to a ceasefire with the Zionist regime.