Israel, Gaza Armed Groups Agree to Cease-fire After Recent Flare-Up
Israel and Gaza armed groups agreed to a cease-fire early Wednesday after a day of increased violence, sparked by the death of a prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad member during a hunger strike in an Israeli prison. According to Al Jazeera and Reuters, Palestinian sources confirmed that the truce went into effect before dawn, mediated by officials from Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.
Despite a rocket warning siren near the southern Israeli community of Nir Am shortly after the cease-fire began, there were no immediate reports of injuries, damage, or rocket launches. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that people in communities bordering the Gaza Strip could return to their regular routines, and the Eshkol Regional Council declared that schools would reopen as usual.
The cease-fire followed the death of Khader Adnan, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, after an 86-day hunger strike. His death prompted the firing of four rockets from Gaza, leading to IDF tanks striking a Hamas observation post near the border. Later on Tuesday, armed groups in Gaza fired dozens more rockets and mortar shells into Israel, with five hitting urban areas in southern Israel.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip reported Wednesday morning that one person was killed and five people were wounded in Israeli airstrikes in the strip overnight.
The Israeli military reported that, since yesterday morning, 104 rockets were launched from Gaza toward Israel. At least 12 people in Israel were injured in the attacks, including one foreign national who was seriously wounded and two others who received moderate injuries when a rocket struck the construction site where they were working on Tuesday afternoon.
In response to the rocket attacks, the Israeli Air Force carried out airstrikes targeting several sites belonging to Hamas, including weapon manufacturing sites, training camps, weapon storage sites, military posts, and an attack tunnel.
