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Gaza truce holds after Israeli strikes over soldier death
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, July 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A ceasefire
announced by Hamas largely held Saturday after a wave of deadly strikes
across the Palestinian enclave sparked by the death of an Israeli soldier
shot near the border.
Israel did not confirm the deal announced by Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas,
which went into effect around midnight Friday.
Since then there have been no reports of Israeli air strikes on the
blockaded enclave or of mortar fire from Gaza toward Israel.
“With Egyptian and UN efforts, we reached (an agreement) to return to the
previous state of calm between the (Israeli) occupation and the Palestinian
factions,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement.
He gave no details of the deal.
Israel’s army and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to
confirm a truce was reached. “All we can say is that there have been no
incidents or Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since the last wave of
airstrikes on Friday night,” a military spokeswoman told AFP.
On Friday, three Hamas militants were killed as air raids sent fireballs
exploding into the sky over Gaza, while Israel said rockets had been fired
back at its territory. A fourth Palestinian was shot dead in protests near
the border.
The United Nations urged all sides to step “back from the brink” after
months of increasing tensions.
The soldier, shot dead along the border in southern Gaza, was the first to
be killed in and around the Palestinian enclave since a 2014 war between
Israel and Hamas.
Friday’s flare-up is the latest as demonstrations and clashes on the
frontier since March have seen at least 149 Palestinians killed.
The Israeli army said they struck 60 Hamas sites including weapon
manufacturing sites, a drone warehouse and a military operations room.
The ceasefire is the second since in a week.
Last weekend saw the most severe exchange of fire between Israel and
Palestinian militants in Gaza since the 2014 war.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1250 hrs