Calm has returned this morning to Gaza and Israel after A ceasefire was declared after 11 days of hostilities. No fighter jets are flying in the sky and the sirens that warn of rockets do not sound.
Thousands of Palestinians celebrate end of Israeli bombing on Gaza streets, as soon as the ceasefire started, at 02:00 local time and Greek time. Demonstrations of joy also broke out in cities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“It’s the euphoria of victory,” said Khalil al-Haya, a member of the Hamas-based Islamist movement Gauze, promising to “rebuild” homes destroyed by Israeli raids.
From “02:00 there has been no launch (rocket) and the aircraft have returned to their bases”, the Israeli army announced.
The truce was brokered by Egypt, a regional power with ties to both Israel and Hamas, which the Jewish state, the EU and the United States consider a “terrorist organization.”
US President Joe Biden called the truce “a real opportunity” to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians and expressed his “genuine gratitude” to Egypt for its role in the negotiations.
“I am convinced that Palestinians and Israelis alike deserve to live in security and enjoy the same level of freedom, prosperity and democracy,” said Biden, adding that the United States would work with the United Nations and other international organizations to “Provide immediate humanitarian assistance and gather international support for the people of Gaza and the reconstruction efforts in Gaza.”
After all, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is going to the Middle East “in the coming days.”
Airstrikes and artillery bombardment of Gaza have killed at least 232 people, including 65 children, and injured 1,900 in the past 11 days.. In Israel, 12 people were killed, including a child, a teenager and a soldier, while another 355 were injured.
“Unconditionally”
The ceasefire was announced after a meeting of its security council Israel, chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “unanimously” accepted the Egyptian initiative “for a bilateral unconditional ceasefire”.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad later announced that they accepted the ceasefire agreement brokered by the “Egyptian brothers”. “The Palestinian resistance will accept this agreement as long as the occupier respects it,” Hamas said.
“Let us not be naive”
The Israeli military says it has summed up the success of its operation in Gaza by killing “25 senior Hamas officials” in its raids, which destroyed more than 100 kilometers of tunnels and dozens of buildings used by him. Hamas terrorist activities “.
According to the same source, Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired more than 4,300 rockets at Israel, an unprecedented number. More than 90% of them were intercepted by the Israeli air defense system.
In Sderot, an Israeli town on the border with Gaza, the announcement of the ceasefire was considered premature, according to AFP and the Athens News Agency.
“The problem is that Hamas will not abide by it. we must not be naiveSaid in an interview with the mayor of the city Alin Davidi, while calling for a prolonged operation against Gaza, which, according to him, is the only solution to prevent a recurrence of hostilities in the future.
Egyptian delegations
After three wars in a decade (2009, 2012, 2014) Hamas and Israel agreed in 2018 on truce with the aim of stabilizing and developing Gaza, an area with vulnerable infrastructure and endemic unemployment, thanks to the mediation of the UN, Egypt and Qatar.
In these corridors, the three sides stepped up talks in order to achieve this ceasefire as well.
“Two Egyptian delegations will be sent to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire and the process of maintaining stable conditions,” Egyptian diplomatic sources said.
Despite the ceasefire, all eyes are on the West Bank, where more than 25 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces in the past 11 days, the worst death toll in years in the occupied territories.
Germany and France welcome the ceasefire
German Foreign Minister Haiko Maas today welcomed a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but said the “deeper causes” of the conflict needed to be addressed.
“It is good that a truce has been reached” and “there are no more victims,” ​​Maas wrote on Twitter.
At the same time, the German minister addressed “a big thank you to Egypt for its mediation” in order to achieve a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Now is the time to address the root causes, to restore confidence and to find a solution to the conflict in the Middle East,” he said.
The reaction of French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was similar, who welcomed the ceasefire and called for “a real political process to begin.”
“I welcome the cessation of hostilities tonight,” Lentrian said, referring to “Egypt’s fundamental role.” “The escalation of the last few days underscores the need to repeat a real political process between the parties,” the French minister concluded.
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