Israel, Palestinian militants in Gaza Strip agree to cease-fire

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza agreed to a cease-fire, the two parties announced late Sunday, in a move that was expected to end a three-day conflict that killed dozens of Palestinians, including children as well as key militant commanders; destroyed several residential buildings and militant bases in Gaza; and paralyzed parts of southern Israel.

The conflict, which began Friday afternoon when Israel launched airstrikes to foil what it said was an imminent attack from Gaza, has left the status quo in Israel and the occupied territories almost unchanged. A 15-year blockade of Gaza remains in place, and there is no prospect of peace talks to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The cease-fire officially took effect at 11:30 p.m. local time but did not appear to have been observed by either side, as rocket fire and airstrikes continued, until minutes after the deadline.

Israeli officials declined to reveal further details about the agreement, but Islamic Jihad said it had received assurances from Egyptian officials who mediated the negotiations that Egypt would lobby Israel to release two leading members of the group currently detained in Israeli jails: Bassem Saadi and Khalil Awawdeh.

If the truce holds, the fighting will end with a death toll of at least 44 in Gaza, including 15 children, according to the health ministry there. Some 311 people were injured, the health ministry said. Scores of Israelis were lightly injured while running for cover from Palestinian rockets, and an unexploded rocket fell in a residential area of the Israeli city of Ashkelon, officials.

The fighting has badly damaged Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second-largest militia. Two of its key leaders are now dead, and many of its bases and weapons factories have been destroyed.

The eruption of violence also has driven a wedge between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the largest militia in Gaza, which opted to remain on the sidelines of the conflict.

And it has highlighted both the limits and strengths of Israel’s strategy of offering small economic concessions to ordinary Gazans — notably, 14,000 work permits that help boost the Palestinian economy.