Israel has accepted a truce offered by Egypt in the Gaza Strip, where 31 Palestinians including six children have died, a source in the Egyptian security services told AFP, adding that Cairo is now awaiting the Palestinian response. . “Egypt has been working for 48 hours” to obtain a truce “between the two parties,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
275 wounded in two days
So far, “the Israeli side has accepted”, he added, without giving any details on the timetable for this truce as the most serious confrontation between Islamic Jihad and Israel since a blitzkrieg continues. last year. The Palestinian armed group, for its part, confirmed to AFP that negotiations were continuing.
“Discussions are underway at the highest level for a return to calm, the resistance will only end when an end is put to the aggression and crimes of the (Israeli) occupation,” said a source within it. . According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, to the 31 Palestinian dead are added 275 wounded counted in two days in the enclave under strict Israeli blockade for fifteen years.
Israel’s ‘preemptive attack’
Islamic Jihad said on Sunday it fired rockets at Jerusalem for the first time since hostilities began on Friday. Like 97% of the 585 projectiles launched from Gaza, they were intercepted by the Israeli missile shield, according to the Israeli army. The Jewish state says it is carrying out a “preventive attack” in Gaza targeting Islamic Jihad. He claimed to have killed fighters and “neutralized” the leaders of the organization, considered terrorist by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Already in May 2021, clashes between Israel and armed organizations in Gaza had killed 260 Palestinians in eleven days, including fighters, and 14 dead in Israel, including a soldier, according to local authorities. The truce was then negotiated by Cairo, the first Arab country to have signed peace with Israel in 1979 and a regular sponsor of discussions between Palestinian groups.