Fragile Cease-fire on Israel-Gaza Border Taking First Roots
People on both sides of the Israel-Gaza Strip border were coming out of their homes Monday morning, many of them for the first time in days, and assessing the damage done by 55 hours of violence. Israel lifted all restrictions in communities near the Gaza border and opened the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings for humanitarian needs, including the supply of fuel for Gaza’s sole power plant, which ceased operating on Saturday.
The tenuous Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad armed group in the Gaza Strip seems to be holding but all sides know that the shaky truce could break down, leading to further exchanges of airstrikes and rocket fire or an even greater conflagration.
The cease-fire went into effect Sunday at 11:30 pm local time. Rocket fire and airstrikes continued right up to the truce deadline and resumed eight minutes later, continuing for at least 15 minutes before the bombs went silent.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday said, through his spokesman, that he “welcomes the announcement of a cease-fire in Gaza and Israel.” In a statement published on the UN website, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said the secretary-general “is deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries, including children, from airstrikes in Gaza and the indiscriminate firing of rockets toward Israel from population centers in Gaza by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other militant groups.”
Dujarric’s statement referred to the humanitarian emergency caused by the flare-up of violence, which caused power shortages and destroyed or damaged hundreds of buildings. leaving thousands of Palestinians homeless. He thanked Egypt for its efforts “carried out in close coordination with the United Nations” to bring about a cease-fire, which he called on all sides to observe.
“He reaffirms the United Nations’ commitment to the achievement of the two-state solution based on relevant United Nations resolutions, international law, and prior agreements and the importance of restoring a political horizon. Only a negotiated sustainable political solution will end, once and for all, these devastating cycles of violence and lead to a peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis alike,” said the spokesman.
