After the latest deadly exchanges of fire that claimed the lives of 31 Palestinians, including six children, Israel accepted a truce offered by Egypt in the Gaza Strip, a source in the Egyptian security services told AFP , adding that Cairo was now awaiting the Palestinian response.
“Egypt has been working for 48 hours” to obtain a truce “between the two parties,” said the official on condition of anonymity.
Islamic Jihad confirms talks
“The Israeli side has accepted the truce,” the official said on condition of anonymity, without giving details on the timetable for the truce as the most serious confrontation between Islamic Jihad and Israel since a blitzkrieg continues. last year. The powerful Islamic Jihad, based in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, confirmed “ongoing negotiations at the highest level for a truce”. He did not indicate whether he accepted it or not but warned that “the resistance will not stop if the aggression and the crimes of the occupation do not stop”.
This Sunday, for the first time since the beginning of hostilities, the Islamic Jihad claimed to have fired rockets in the direction of Jerusalem. But like 97% of the 585 rockets launched from Gaza according to the Israeli army, they were intercepted by the Israeli missile shield.
The shooting resumed on Friday
Israeli strikes have continued on the Gaza Strip, particularly on the city of Rafah in the south of this territory under the control of the armed Islamist group Hamas and under Israeli blockade for more than 15 years. The Israeli army said on Friday it launched a “preemptive attack” against Islamic Jihad, killing several of its fighters and “neutralizing” its main military leaders in Gaza, Tayssir Al-Jabari and Khaled Mansour.
Their death was confirmed by the Islamic Jihad, considered “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Explosions heard in Jerusalem on Sunday
Sunday morning, sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area, alerting to rocket fire, intercepted according to the Israeli army. AFP journalists heard explosions in the distance.
At the time of the shooting, hundreds of Israelis had begun to gather in the Old City in East Jerusalem for a Jewish holiday. Jewish nationalists went to the esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam but also the holiest site in Judaism called Temple Mount. East Jerusalem is occupied and annexed by Israel.