Gaza ceasefire holds after two-day flare-up

GAZA: The Israel-Gaza border was quiet yesterday after an Egyptian-brokered truce ended a surge in violence that had shaken southern Israel and the Gaza Strip for two days.

Israel’s military told residents in the south, who had spent much of the past two days in rocket shelters, they could return to their daily routines.

A rise in cross-border rockets and airstrikes in recent weeks prompted the United Nations and Egypt to try to broker a truce to prevent an all-out conflict.

Since the escalation on Wednesday, Palestinian militants fired scores of rockets, including a long-range missile deep into Israel, and Israeli aircraft struck more than 150 targets in Gaza.

A pregnant Palestinian woman and her 18-month-old child were killed in the Israeli attacks, as was a Hamas member. Seven people were wounded by Palestinian rockets and mortars that struck Israel.

Palestinian officials said a truce had been reached with Egyptian mediation. There was no formal comment from Israel, which rarely acknowledges reaching any such agreement with Hamas.

With the ceasefire holding, organisers of border protests against Israel drove through streets here with loudspeakers, calling for a massive attendance.

Gazans have held weekly protests since March 30, some of which have become violent, to demand the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The Israeli army has killed at least 158 Palestinians during those protests, and a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier.