Calm prevailed over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, after Egypt succeeded in putting into effect a ceasefire agreement in the early morning hours.
Palestinian factions refrained from firing rockets at Israel, which in turn stopped raids on the Gaza Strip, after a long day in which Israel hit about 70 targets in Gaza, while Palestinians fired more than 80 shells and rockets at Israeli towns and settlements near the border.
Member of Hamas Political Bureau Khalil al-Hayya announced reaching a ceasefire understanding, stressing that the Palestinian factions were committed to this agreement, as long as the occupation forces did not breach it.
“After the factions succeeded in repelling the Israeli aggression… many mediations occurred over the past few hours and a consensus was reached to return to the ceasefire understandings in the Gaza Strip,” Hayya said.
Officials in the Islamic Jihad, which started the confrontation early Tuesday, also stressed commitment to the ceasefire agreement.
“In the light of the Egyptian contacts with the Islamic Jihad and Hamas, there has been agreement on the implementation of the understandings of the ceasefire of 2014,” said Daoud Shehab, spokesman for the movement.
He added: “Palestinian factions will abide by the truce agreement as long as the Israeli occupation commit to it.”
The ceasefire agreement was signed in 2014 and sponsored by Egypt, to end the longest war on Gaza, which lasted 51 days.
Israeli raids on Gaza stopped at 5 am on Wednesday, and the factions refrained from firing rockets from the Gaza Strip.
As life in the streets of the Gaza Strip rebounded, children went to school in Israeli communities near the border. There were no violations by the parties until Wednesday evening, in a clear indication of the parties’ unwillingness to escalate the situation.
However, Israel refused to acknowledge understandings with Hamas and Jihad, which it considers as “terrorist organizations”, and merely said that calm would be met with calm.
Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz denied any ceasefire agreement, saying: “There is no ceasefire. Israel has a clear policy of not allowing fire and terrorist attacks against it.”
“Israel does not want the situation to deteriorate, but the side that started violence must stop it,” he added.
