2023-05-14 12:02:08
No rocket scares or fighter jets in the sky. Calm returned on Sunday, May 14, in the Gaza Strip and in Israel after the entry into force of a ceasefire which put an end to five days of hostilities which left thirty-five dead. A truce negotiated by Egypt, the traditional mediator between the belligerents, came into force on Saturday evening at 9 p.m. Paris time. Two rockets were still fired a quarter of an hour later, followed by new Israeli strikes on Palestinian territory.
On Sunday, Cogat, the military body that manages the civilian affairs of Palestinians in the occupied territories, announced “partial and gradual reopening” crossing points of Erez, in the north of Gaza, and Kerem Shalom, in the south. “Full Opening” crossing points will be possible “after new assessments of the situation”ajoute le Cogat
This week’s deadly escalation was the most violent between Gaza and Israel since August 2022. It began on Tuesday with airstrikes that killed three military commanders of the Islamic Jihad, a movement described as “terrorist” both by the United States and the European Union and by Israel.
“I congratulate the Israeli army, the Shin Bet [le service de sécurité intérieure israélien] and the entire security forces for their actions to strike at Islamic Jihad terrorists and to protect the residents of Israel”, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday. Israel and Islamic Jihad thanked Egypt for its mediation.
The White House welcomed the announcement of a truce, as did the UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, who deplored “the loss of human life and injuries (…)caused by Israeli strikes and the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other groups”.
“The answer to calm will be calm”
Since Tuesday, clashes between Israel and armed groups in Gaza have claimed the lives of thirty-four Palestinians. In addition, 190 people were injured in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Among the Palestinians killed are six military commanders of the Islamic Jihad, fighters of this movement, and others of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), another armed group.
On the Israeli side, an octogenarian was killed Thursday in Rehovot, in central Israel and thirty other people were injured.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed the death of at least thirteen Palestinian civilians. The Israeli army claims that four civilians were killed by Palestinian rockets that fell on the Gaza Strip.
In the Palestinian territory, Tariq Salmi, spokesman for Islamic Jihad, warned Israel against “any stupid action or assassination of Palestinian resistance commanders” while an official of the political department of the Islamic Jihad reached by telephone in Cairo announced an agreement including a commitment of Israel “to stop targeting combatants”.
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“Israel’s response to the Egyptian initiative” means that “The answer to calm will be calm, and that if Israel is attacked or threatened, it will continue to do whatever it needs to do to defend itself”said an official Israeli statement on Saturday evening on behalf of Tzachi Hanegbi, national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In August 2022, three days of clashes between Israel and Islamic Jihad caused the death of forty-nine Palestinians in Gaza, according to the UN. More than a thousand rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, injuring three.
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