Israel And Palestinian Islamic Jihad Reach Ceasefire After Days Of Rocket Attacks And Air Strikes

After five days of rocket firing into Israel and air strikes in Gaza Strike, Israel and Palestinian terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have agreed to a ceasefire. 

The Times of Israel reports that a diplomat familiar with the negotiations brokered by Egypt confirmed to it the ceasefire. It also reported that rocket fire was reported just as the ceasefire timeline was about to begin. Separately, AP reported that Mohamad al-Hindi of PIJ also confirmed the ceasefire to Al Kahera Wal Nas channel. 

The PIJ has fired 1,092 rockets into Israel over the past five days, according to Israeli government. It has caused at least two deaths inside Israel. In retaliation to rockets, Israel has carried out several air strikes in which around 20 terrorists, including top commanders, and at least 13 civilians have been killed.

Israel has repeatedly accused Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza to be use civilian settlements to house their terrorists and rocket launching facilities.  Tammy Rahamimoff-Honig, Deputy Head of Division for Strategic Affairs at Israel's Foreign Ministry, shared satellite imagery and said that a United Nations (UN) school in Gaza was being used for terrorist purposes. 

He tweeted, "Hello UN, Are you aware of the placement of Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket launchers near your school in the Gaza Strip? Are you ok with Iran-backed PIJ endangering young children and using them as human shields?"

Five days of Israel-PIJ violence

The latest round of episode follows months of high tensions in Israel as the country has faced a string of Palestinian attacks. 

Last month, Israel and the region at large was on the edge as the country faced dozens of rockets from Gaza and Lebanon. Multiple fatalities also occured in multiple Palestinian attacks within a day's span. 

Israel has dubbed its current military operation in Gaza Operation Shield and Arrow. It has killed several top Palestinian terrorist commanders.

"Operation Shield and Arrow, as it is known in the military, was launched early Tuesday with the killing of three top Islamic Jihad commanders in the wake of rocket fire from Gaza earlier this month. Subsequent Israeli strikes killed at least three other senior figures of the Iranian-backed terror group," reported ToI.

The PIJ is a Palestinian terrorist organisation committed to the destruction of Israel, says think tank Counter Extremism Project (CEP).

"PIJ is dedicated to eradicating Israel and establishing an autonomous Islamic Palestinian state in the lands currently comprising Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. PIJ believes that the land of Palestine is consecrated for Islam, that Israel usurped Palestine, and, therefore, that Israel is an affront to God and Islam and that Palestine’s re-conquest is a holy task," says CEP.

The PIJ is the second-largest Palestinian terrorist group after Hamas, which is also committed to the destruction of Israel. Hamas rules Gaza.

While Hamas has praised PIJ's recent attacks, it has remained on the sidelines in the ongoing violence.

"The group’s ideology blends Islamism and Palestinian nationalism and seeks the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River...Hamas’s preferred methods include suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, shootings, and kidnappings," says CEP about Hamas.

Rising Israel-Palestinian tensions

As Mohamad al-Hindi of PIJ confirmed the ceasefire, Israel reported continued rocket fire out of the Gaza. There was no Israeli comment on the cease-fire announcement. But the Egyptian station had earlier reported a deal was imminent. A similar announcement last week by Egypt unraveled amid continued fighting.

The fighting has killed 33 Palestinians inside Gaza, including at least 13 civilians. Two people were killed by rocket fire in Israel, including an 80-year-old Israeli woman and a Palestinian man from Gaza who had a permit to work in Israel.

The Al-Qahera satellite channel said Egypt had brokered a cease-fire and it would go into effect at 10 pm (1900 GMT). Egypt often serves as a broker between the warring sides. Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes efforts, confirmed an agreement was in place.

The signs of progress came as fighting continued. Last week, another Egyptian effort to forge a truce unraveled.

Earlier Saturday, shrapnel from a Palestinian rocket that slammed into an agricultural community in Israel's southern Negev desert killed a Palestinian labourer who had been working inside Israel, Israeli defense officials said. A second Palestinian laborer was badly wounded. 

There were no immediate reports of casualties Saturday from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, where so far 34 Palestinians have been killed, at least 13 of them civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Over 147 have been wounded. But residents said homes of people uninvolved in fighting had been struck.

In a reminder of the combustible situation in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military raided the Balata refugee camp near the northern city of Nablus, sparking a firefight that killed two Palestinians. In a separate incident near the northern city of Jenin, Israeli police said they shot and killed a suspected Palestinian assailant who ran toward soldiers wielding a knife.

Meanwhile, Israeli military Saturday bombed an apartment belonging to Islamic Jihad commander Mohammed Abu Al Atta, among other targets including rocket launchers, it said.

Islamic Jihad militants fired several barrages of rockets toward southern Israel, where tens of thousands of Israelis were instructed to remain close to safe rooms and bomb shelters. Hundreds of residents near the border were evacuated to hotels farther north. 

Islamic Jihad promised a further onslaught. "As assassinations and the bombing of apartments and safe houses continue, the Palestinian resistance will renew its rocket fire ... to emphasize the continuation of the confrontation," the group said. Mortar shells fired by Palestinian militants crashed into the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, the Israeli civil defense body said, sharing footage of a fiery explosion at the main passageway into Israel. 

Israeli officials told media that Egyptian-led efforts to broker a cease-fire were still underway but that Israel has ruled out the conditions presented by Islamic Jihad in the talks. Israel has said only that quiet will be answered with quiet, while Islamic Jihad has been reportedly pressing Israel to agree to halt targeted assassinations, among other demands. 

Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Israel had made “significant achievements” throughout the fighting and that Islamic Jihad's continued fire "enables us to continue to make further achievements".

"We are prepared to continue the targeted strikes and striking in a precise and increasing manner," he added. 

On Saturday, the deadly Israeli raid into the Balata refugee camp turned the focus of the conflict back to the long-simmering West Bank. Residents said that Israeli forces besieged a militant hideout, sharing footage of a large explosion and smoke billowing from the crowded camp. Ejected bullet casings littered the alleys. Blood soaked the streets. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the two as 32-year-old Said Mesha and 19-year-old Adnan Araj. At least three other Palestinians were wounded in the raid, the latest of near-daily Israeli arrest operations against suspected militants in the territory. 

The Israeli military said the targeted apartment harboured militants who had planned attacks against Israeli soldiers and manufactured improvised explosive devices. It said the blast and fire erupted after Israeli security forces detonated explosives inside the hideout. The two Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on a group of gunmen who were shooting at them, the military said.

Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the West Bank under Israel's most right-wing government in history. Since the start of the year, 111 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to a tally by The Associated Press — the highest death toll in some two decades. In that time, 20 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

(With AP inputs)