Shaky Start to Israel-Islamic Jihad Cease-fire After 5 Days of Violence
In mediation efforts led by Egypt, both sides urged an end to the exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday night, rocket alerts sounded in southern and central Israel during a brief last-minute burst of rocket fire from Gaza. Israel reported the incoming fire and said the IDF had retaliated with airstrikes on Gaza, targeting two alleged rocket launchers belonging to PIJ.
The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire stopped five days of intense fighting that saw over 1,200 rocket launches at Israel and the Israeli military’s targeting of senior PIJ members, command centers, and rocket launching sites in the Gaza Strip.
In a speech following the truce agreement, PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah declared the “end of another round of conflict with the Zionist project.”
Al-Nakhalah, based in Syria, where the Iranian-backed terror group also operates, said it “lost many of our dear brothers” and “we part from them with pride,” according to Hebrew-language media. “A nation whose leaders died as martyrs will never be defeated,” he added.
US officials commended Egypt’s crucial role in mediating the ceasefire agreement, lauding the joint effort with regional partners to “prevent further loss of life and restore calm for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
In a statement thanking Egypt for its “vigorous efforts” to negotiate an end to the fighting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said that “quiet would be answered with quiet” and that Israel would do “everything that it needs to in order to defend itself.”
