Press Trust of India

Egypt calls for cease-fire, seeking to end Gaza violence

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Gaza City: Egyptian intelligence officials called for a cease-fire to begin Sunday night, indicating a deal has been struck to end the violence in Gaza that has seen Israeli airstrikes kill dozens of Palestinians.

An Egyptian intelligence official said Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group had agreed to the truce to begin at 11:30 p.m. (2030 GMT; 4:30 p.m. EDT). He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks.

Ahead of the cease-fire development, Israeli aircraft pummeled targets in the Gaza Strip, raising the Palestinian death toll, and militants fired repeated rounds of rockets that reached deep into Israel.

While Egyptian officials worked on an agreement, another seven people were killed in Gaza, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 36 since the start of the Israeli offensive Friday. Among the dead were 11 children and four women. The Palestinian Health Ministry said more than 311 people were wounded since Friday.

The Iran-backed Palestinian Jihad militant group has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in response, and the risk of the cross-border fighting turning into a full-fledged war remained so long as no truce is reached. Israel says some of the dead were killed by misfired rockets.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, which fought an 11-day war with Israel in May 2021, appeared to stay on the sidelines for now, possibly because it fears Israeli reprisals and undoing economic understandings with Israel, including Israeli work permits for thousands of Gaza residents, that bolster its control.

If it does, the cease-fire efforts could bear fruit. According to an Egyptian intelligence official, both Israel and the Palestinian militant groups gave initial approval on a cease-fire offer earlier Sunday but it wasn’t clear when it might take effect. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the continuing talks.

Officials from Islamic and Hamas suggested a truce would go into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time (2030 GMT; 4:30 p.m. EDT). They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Israel did not confirm the cease-fire talks.

Israel launched its operation with a strike Friday on a leader of the Islamic Jihad, and followed up on Saturday with another targeted strike on a second prominent leader.

The second Islamic Jihad commander, Khaled Mansour, was killed in an airstrike on an apartment building in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza late Saturday, which also killed two other militants and five civilians. (AP)


Press Trust of India

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