Thousands of people in the Gaza Strip and across the occupied Palestinian territory poured into the streets to celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian armed groups.
This is coming after reports that Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, while on the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.
The ceasefire, which was welcomed internationally, was brokered by Egypt in the early hours of Friday after 11 days of relentless bombing of the besieged enclave and thousands of rockets launched into Israel by Hamas, the group ruling the Strip.
A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said late on Thursday the security cabinet had “unanimously accepted the recommendations to accept an Egyptian initiative for an unconditional … ceasefire”.
Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad then confirmed the ceasefire in a statement, saying it would come into force at 2am on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday).
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, welcomed the ceasefire deal and urged both sides to build on it.
“I urge both sides to consolidate it and stabilise the situation in the long term. Only a political solution will bring lasting peace and security to all,” Von der Leyen tweeted.
The news of the truce was also welcomed by the EU foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell who said that European institutions stand ready to “fully support” a “sustainable peace”. (Aljazeera)
