Peace hope as Israel and Gaza agree to ceasefire
A CEASEFIRE was holding last night after four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in fighting on the Gaza Strip.
Egyptian and UN officials brokered the peace deal after Israeli soldiers shot dead a protester on the border on Friday.
Hamas also said three of its members were killed by Israeli air strikes which were launched after the shooting of the soldier.
The officer’s death was the first Israeli military fatality in the region since the 2014 Gaza war.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said: “We reached an agreement to return to the previous state of calm between the [Israeli] occupation and the Palestinian factions.”
Israel’s army responded by saying that communities near Gaza could return to normal activity.
Palestinians have been protesting along Gaza’s border with Israel for the last 17 weeks. Gaza officials said in that time 130 Palestinians had been killed and 15,000 injured.
UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov had urged both sides to “step back from the brink” of war.