Hamas claims ceasefire after attacks
Tensions high after largest flare-up since devastating 2014 war
Gaza’s Hamas rulers said last night that they have agreed to a ceasefire with Israel to end the largest flare-up of violence between the sides since a 2014 war.
Khalil al-Haya, a senior Hamas official, said that Egyptian mediators intervened “after the resistance succeeded in warding off the aggression”.
He said militant groups in Gaza would commit to the ceasefire as long as Israel does. Israeli Cabinet minister Naftali Bennett told Israel’s Army Radio no agreement has been reached yet.
The Israeli military struck dozens of militant sites in Gaza yesterday as rocket fire continued toward southern Israeli communities.
The Israeli military said most of the projectiles fired yesterday were intercepted, but three soldiers were wounded, raising the chances of further Israeli retaliation.
One mortar shell landed near a kindergarten shortly before it opened.
The border area has been tense in recent weeks as Palestinians have held mass protests aimed at lifting an Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007.
More than 110 Palestinians, many of them unarmed protesters, have been killed by Israeli fire since the protests along the Gaza border with Israel began in late March.
Israel holds Gaza’s Hamas rulers responsible for the bloodshed. “Israel will exact a heavy price from those who seek to harm it, and we see Hamas as responsible for preventing such attacks,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Israel and Hamas are bitter enemies and have fought three wars since 2007.
The last war in 2014 was especially devastating.