Hamas agrees ceasefire after Israel inflicts ‘hardest blow’ since 2014

A CEASEFIRE announced by Hamas largely held yesterday after the most severe exchange of fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since a war in 2014, easing fears of a wider conflict.

Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the blockaded Gaza Strip, said late on Saturday that the ceasefire had been reached with the help of Egypt and others, though Israel declined to comment.

Nickolay Mladenov, the United Nations Middle East envoy, was in Gaza and “working with all concerned parties to de-escalate the situation,” a UN official said on condition of anonymity. In a press conference, he called on

“everybody to step back from the brink”.

In one incident yesterday, an Israeli aircraft fired at what it said was militants launching balloons carrying firebombs over the Gaza border fence. It was not clear if there were casualties.

On Saturday there were dozens of Israeli air strikes, killing two Palestinians, while 200 rockets and mortars were fired from the enclave at Israel.

Four Israelis were wounded when a rocket hit a house in the city of Sderot near the Gaza Strip, authorities said.

The two Palestinians killed were aged 15 and 16, caught in an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City, the enclave’s health ministry said. Twentyfive people were wounded across Gaza, it said.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Hamas had been hit with “the hardest blow” since a 2014 war.

Hamas said it fired at Israel in defence in response to air strikes, which came after a soldier was wounded by a grenade along the Gaza border.

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader said yesterday at the funeral for the two teenagers that the movement would challenge Israel with border protests until the blockade is lifted.

“This blood will not be shed for nothing,” he told hundreds of mourners.