The Times of Israel has reported that Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire that will go into place at 11:30 p.m. The report is based on information it received from an unnamed senior Middle East diplomat.
Israeli sources confirm to Hebrew media outlets that a ceasefire has been reached with Palestinian Islamic Jihad that will take effect at 23:30 p.m. There has been no official Israeli confirmation of the deal.
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The statement thanks Egypt for its efforts in securing an end to the fighting after four days.
“Should the ceasefire be broken, Israel reserves the right to respond forcefully,” the statement reads. “We will not allow any party to disturb the daily lives of residents of Israel.”
The statement from the head of the Public Diplomacy Directorate, which is run out of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office, marks a sea change for Israel, which has never officially confirmed a ceasefire with Gaza terror groups before. Instead Israel has traditionally leaked confirmation via unnamed sources, to preserve the thin pretense that it did not negotiate with terrorists.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has also confirmed that it had reached a ceasefire deal with Israel. Israel reportedly agreed to the Egyptian-brokered deal earlier in the afternoon, after three days of airstrikes on Gaza.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid reportedly told municipal officials that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had achieved all of its objectives in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave that it has pounded with airstrikes since Friday.
The mission, called Operation Breaking Dawn, began with an airstrike on the home of senior PIJ commander Taysir al-Jabari. Other strikes targeted the group’s observation posts, warehouses, and launch sites, while another senior PIJ commander was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday night, the IDF stated on Sunday.
The PIJ responded with rocket attacks on Israel, which continued even as news of the ceasefire deal broke. According to the IDF, the PIJ launched a total of 935 rockets and mortars at Israel since Friday, with the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepting 96% of the projectiles aimed at populated areas.
At least two of these rockets traveled as far as Tel Aviv, Channel 12 news reported. No serious Israeli casualties occurred, with emergency workers treating minor injuries that took place as people ran to cover. At least two people in Israel suffered minor wounds from rocket shrapnel, according to emergency services.
Palestinian officials say that at least 41 people have been killed in Gaza since Friday – among them six children – while more than 265 have been wounded. Israel has denied responsibility for at least nine of these deaths, which the IDF blamed on a Palestinian rocket that fell short after launch.
As part of the ceasefire, Egypt has agreed to work to ensure the release of Khalil al-Awawda, an Islamic Jihad member who is hunger-striking in protest of his detention by Israel without any charges, the diplomat who spoke to Times of Israel says, criticizing the Israeli policy of administrative detentions.
The diplomat says that Egypt will also work to release Islamic Jihad West Bank leader Bassam al-Saadi, who was arrested last week in what is believed to have helped spark the latest round of violence. The diplomat indicates that his immediate release will be more difficult to achieve, though it is also not clear what al-Saadi is being charged with.
The diplomat criticizes the Israeli policy of administrative detention, which allows it to hold suspects practically indefinitely without charge.
The Israel Security Agency, the Shin Bet says that in recent months, Saadi “worked even harder to restore PIJ activities, and was behind the creation of a significant military force for the organization in [the northern West Bank] in general and in Jenin in particular.”
“His presence was a significant factor in the radicalization of the organization’s operatives in the field,” the Shin Bet says.
At the time of this report, rocket sirens are still sounding in Israel’s southern city of Netivot and other towns close to the border with the Gaza Strip, 40 minutes before the ceasefire begins.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
