Palestinians approve Gaza ceasefire
GAZA: The Islamist Hamas movement said yesterday Palestinian armed groups in Gaza had agreed to a ceasefire as long as Israel also ceased fire, after the most intense flareup of fighting since 2014.
Following dozens of rocket and mortar launches at Israel throughout Tuesday and overnight, and Israeli tank and air strikes in Gaza, there were no reports of violence more than two hours after the announcement of a truce by Hamas.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz sidestepped questions yesterday on whether Israel had agreed to a ceasefire but said it was not interested in an escalation towards war.
‘‘It all depends on Hamas. If it continues [to attack], I don’t know what its fate will be,’’ Katz said.
Authorities in southern Israel, where rocket warning sirens have sounded frequently since the Palestinian barrages began on Tuesday morning, said schools would open as usual.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the launches, saying it was in response to Israel’s killing of dozens of Palestinians since March 30, most of them in Gaza border protests.
Israel has long said it would not tolerate such attacks from Gaza.
‘‘After the resistance succeeded in confronting the [Israeli] aggression . . . there was a lot of mediation in the past hours,’’ Hamas’ deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said.
‘‘An agreement was reached to return to the [2014] ceasefire understandings in the Gaza Strip. The resistance factions will abide by it as long as the Occupation does the same,’’ he said.
By early yesterday, Israeli aircraft had hit 55 facilities belonging to militant groups in Gaza, including a crossborder tunnel under construction, in response to the Palestinian barrages, the military said.
Such potential targets are usually abandoned by militants when violence with Israel flares, and there were no reports of Palestinian casualties.
Israel said 70 rockets and mortar bombs were fired from Gaza and three of its soldiers were wounded by shrapnel.
Several of the projectiles were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome rocket interceptor system, others landed in empty lots and farmland. One exploded in a kindergarten yard an hour before it was scheduled to open for the day.
Violence had soared along the Gaza frontier in recent weeks, during which 116 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire at mass demonstrations calling for Palestinians’ right to return to ancestral lands. — Reuters