Israel, Hamas agree to restore calm in Gaza

Gaza/Jerusalem, July 21

A truce between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, largely held on Saturday a day after one of the most fierce flare-ups along the volatile border in years.

Hamas said it had agreed to the truce with Israel, a day after clashes killed an Israeli soldier and four Palestinians, three of them Hamas fighters. A senior Israeli official confirmed a truce was in place.

The Israeli military declined to comment on the ceasefire but a military spokeswoman said civilians could resume normal activities.

In what appeared to be an isolated incident, with no reports of casualties, an Israeli tank fired on a Hamas post in Gaza after Palestinian suspects breached the border fence and entered Israeli territory before retreating back into Gaza, the military said.

There were no other reports of unrest in the area on Saturday. On Friday, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli soldier and the Israeli military launched dozens of strikes that killed three Hamas fighters. A fourth Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire during a protest near the border.

“With Egyptian and United Nations efforts it has been agreed to return to the era of calm between (Israel) and Palestinian factions,” said Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for the Hamas Islamist group that controls Gaza.

The soldier was the first member of Israel’s army to be killed on the Gaza front since a seven-week 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, a military spokesman said.

During the flare-up which lasted several hours, the Israeli military said its jets and tanks hit 68 Hamas targets, and destroyed “buildings and infrastructures and revoked significant military and command and control capabilities.” “Hamas took a huge blow yesterday and through the Egyptians asked for a ceasefire,” said an Israeli official.

The Israeli strikes shook buildings in Gaza and fire lit the night sky. Pillars of thick smoke rose from the sites that were bombed. The sounds of sirens from ambulances racing through the streets were heard by residents bracing for an escalation.

Israel says Hamas has been orchestrating the demonstrations, dubbed The Great March of Return, to provide cover for militants’ cross-border attacks. Hamas denies this. — Reuters

Preventing an upsurge in violence

• Egyptian, Qatari and United Nations officials held contacts with Hamas and Israel in an effort to restore calm and prevent an upsurge in violence, Hamas official Taher Nono said
• Over the past few weeks, the Israel-Gaza border has seen some of the worst violence since the 2014 war. The ceasefire is the third between Israel and Hamas to be brokered by Egypt this year and the second truce to be agreed this week
• Weekly clashes at the Israel-Gaza border have kept tensions high for months. At least 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces during protests at the frontier held every week since March and more than 200 others injured, many of them by teargas