Gaza/PNN/
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement that would end three days of Israeli aggression on Gaza that left 43 Palestinians dead, 15 of them children, and more than 300 wounded started to take effect at 11:30 PM local time. An Egyptian statement said, "In the context of Egypt's keenness to end the current tension in the Gaza Strip, Egypt has intensified its contacts with all parties to contain the current escalation, and in light of those contacts Egypt calls for a comprehensive and mutual ceasefire as of 23:30 (Palestine time) on August 7, 2022."It went on to say, "Egypt is exerting efforts to release of prisoner Khalil Awawda and transfer him for treatment, as well as working to release the prisoner Bassam al-Saadi as soon as possible."
All parties to the conflict already announced their acceptance of this agreement.
Palestine's Islamic Jihad movement has agreed to a truce with Israel following three days of strikes on the Gaza Strip by Israel.
The movement says the Egypt-brokered truce will take effect on Sunday at 11:30 p.m. local time (20:30 GMT).
"A short while ago, the wording of the Egyptian truce agreement was reached," senior Islamic Jihad member Mohammad al-Hindi said in a statement.
Tensions have skyrocketed across the coastal sliver and the occupied territories since Friday, when the Israeli regime carried out a massacre against the Gaza City, killing as many as 24 people, including Taysir al-Jabari, a senior Islamic Jihad commander, and six children.
Israel kept up the aggression, killing 19 others, including nine children and another Islamic Jihad commander, identified as Khaled Mansour, who died as a result of Israel’s strikes targeting the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 300 others have also been wounded as a result of the Israeli attacks.
The Islamic Jihad responded by firing hundreds of rockets toward the occupied territories. Three Israelis have been wounded by shrapnel over the same period, while 31 others have been lightly hurt, said the regime’s emergency services.
The movement confirmed the timing of the ceasefire, but said it "reserves the right to respond to any Zionist aggression."
The escalation was the worst to involve the two sides since the regime’s last war on the enclave that took place last May, killing hundreds of Palestinians.
Islamic Jihad's Hindi said the ceasefire deal "contains Egypt's commitment to work towards the release of two prisoners."
President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the agreement and thanked Egypt for its efforts in ending the Israeli aggression against Gaza. Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said today that President Mahmoud Abbas is making contact with all concerned parties since the first moments of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip to immediately stop the war on the Palestinian people in the Strip. Shtayyeh told reporters in Ramallah that President Abbas instructed the Palestinian representative at the United Nations to call for a special session of the Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression against Gaza, noting the session will be held tomorrow with the support of France, China, Norway, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates. He stressed that the Security Council needs to take a serious and implementable decision to provide protection for the Palestinian people, adding that "we want this institution to do more than condemnation."The pair were named Bassem al-Saadi, a senior figure in the group's political wing who was recently arrested in the occupied West Bank, and Khalil Awawdeh.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Ramallah and around the West Bank against the Israeli aggression on Gaza.
