Israel forces, Palestinian militants agree on Gaza truce, signalling end to cross-border fire

Israeli defence forces and Islamic Jihad movement's militants agreed to enter a truce in Gaza which will come into effect at 10 pm local time (1900 GMT), on Saturday, said Palestinian officials.

The truce signalled the end of the deadliest episode of cross-border firing in which at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel were killed.

This was the worst fighting that took place after a 10-day war that happened in 2021. The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt, which appealed to both sides to adhere to the finalised agreement, reported Egypt's Al-Qahera News television channel.

The agreement was further confirmed by a Palestinian source.

"In the light of the agreement of the Palestinian and the Israeli side, Egypt announces a ceasefire between the Palestinian and the Israeli side has been reached," read a text of the agreement, as reported by Reuters.

"The two sides will abide by the ceasefire which will include an end to targeting civilians, house demolition, an end to targeting individuals immediately when the ceasefire goes into effect," it added. Israeli officials did not immediately confirm the Gaza truce, said the Reuters report.

Even though the truce was finalised, both sides kept firing rockets as warning sirens blared across southern Israel and the military of Israel announced that Islamic Jihad's six operational command posts have been hit.

The latest airstrikes were launched by Israel in the early hours of Saturday as it announced that their target was Islamic Jihad commanders who had made plans to carry out attacks in Israel.

Responding to airstrikes, hundreds of rockets were fired by the Iranian-backed group, which forced one and a half million people to go to air raid shelters in Israel.

In the campaign which continued for five days, six senior Islamic Jihad commanders were killed by Israel as they also destroyed various military installations. The airstrikes took the lives of 10 civilians, which included women and children.

WATCH |Israel hits targets in Gaza, militants fire at Tel Aviv

Meanwhile, many international staff members working for foreign organisations in the Gaza Strip were seen leaving by buses on Saturday after reports suggested that Israel permitted their exit from the territory.

Dozens of employees working in humanitarian and non-governmental organisations were seen checking their names against lists and then boarding buses.

Also, nearly 2,000 protesters marched on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv with Palestinian flags and signboards reading: "Stop the war," after the protest against Benjamin Netanyahu government's judicial reform was cancelled over security concerns.

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