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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Hamas Says Ceasefire Reached to End Gaza Flareup

Smoke billows from Israeli strikes on Gaza. (AFP)

Hamas announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire has been reached in the Gaza Strip following Israeli strikes this week against the coastal enclave.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said Egyptian mediators intervened "after the resistance succeeded in warding off the aggression."

He said armed groups in Gaza will commit to the ceasefire as long as Israel does.

Israeli Cabinet minister Arieh Deri told Israel's Army Radio that he expected calm to be restored.

"If it will be quiet, we will respond with quiet. We've given Hamas a chance to prove that we can return to routine ... If they release the reins there will be a very painful strike," he said. "There is a good chance that the routine will be restored after the blow the army unleashed on them."

Israel struck overnight 25 more Hamas sites after a barrage of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza.

The military said it hit drone storage facilities, military compounds, and rocket and munition workshops across the Gaza Strip. The overnight Hamas rocket fire reached the city of Netivot for the first time since the 2014 war. A home was struck, but no one was wounded.

The exchange of fire raised the possibility of yet another war in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave run by Hamas, which would be the fourth since 2008.

Israel has targeted more than 60 military targets in the Gaza Strip over 24 hours, saying some 70 rockets and mortars were fired into its territory throughout the day Tuesday, a number of which were intercepted by air defense systems.

Three Israeli soldiers were wounded, one moderately and two lightly, the military said. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Gaza.

But after Tuesday's flareup, followed by sirens and explosions into the night, there were Palestinian claims of a ceasefire.

There was relative calm in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning.

Tuesday's violence followed weeks of deadly unrest along the border between Israel and the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

In a rare joint statement, Hamas and Jihad declared shared responsibility for the rocket and mortar fire, saying it was in retaliation for Israeli attacks targeting their positions.

Three Jihad members were killed in an Israeli strike Sunday, and the group vowed revenge.

Early Tuesday, some 28 mortar shells were fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Israel said most were intercepted by its air defense systems but put residents in the area on high alert, ordering them to stay within 15 seconds of shelters.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet Wednesday to discuss the violence, following an American request for an urgent meeting.

"The Security Council should be outraged and respond to this latest bout of violence directed at innocent Israeli civilians," US ambassador Nikki Haley said.

Kuwait, a non-permanent council member representing Arab countries, circulated a draft resolution calling "for the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed Tuesday to "respond to these attacks powerfully."

Shortly after he spoke, Israel's military began air strikes in Gaza. Explosions shook the Palestinian enclave and smoke rose from the sites hit.

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