Israel reaches ceasefire in Gaza after two days of violence
Palestinian media reported early Monday morning that a ceasefire agreement was reached between Gaza officials and Israeli officials.
Palestinian media reported early Monday morning that a ceasefire agreement was reached between Gaza officials and Israeli officials.
Both an official Hamas television station and a Palestinian official relayed the message.
It comes as a 21-year-old man became the fourth Israeli civilian to be killed by Gaza rocket fire, after a rocket struck an apartment building in the southern coastal city of Ashdod.
The man was in the stairwell of the building when it was struck by a rocket late on Sunday afternoon. He had been running to the building’s bomb shelter. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and later died of his injuries, the Kan national broadcaster reported.
US President Donald Trump addressed the continuing rocket attacks by tweeting words of support for the Jewish State.
“Once again, Israel faces a barrage of deadly rocket attacks by terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We support Israel 100% in its defence of its citizens,” Trump wrote. “To the Gazan people — these terrorist acts against Israel will bring you nothing but more misery. END the violence and work towards peace – it can happen!”
Dramatic scene on the streets of Ashdod, an Israeli port city, as a car goes up in flames following a direct hit from a rocket fired from #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/i32ozYHzae
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 5, 2019
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, two Israeli men were killed, one when a rocket slammed into a factory in Ashkelon and a second when a rocket fired from Gaza scored a direct hit on a car driving near Yad Mordechai in southern Israel.
Two other men who worked for the factory in southern Israel are reported to be injured in a critical condition.
Early Sunday morning, Moshe Agadi, a 58-year-old father of four, was hit with shrapnel to his chest and stomach in the yard of his home in Ashkelon after a rocket fired from Gaza slammed into an apartment building. He died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Agadi had gone outside to smoke a cigarette between frequent rocket warning sirens and did not make it to the home’s bomb shelter in time.
Once again, Israel faces a barrage of deadly rocket attacks by terrorist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. We support Israel 100% in its defense of its citizens….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 6, 2019
As of about 8 p.m. on Sunday evening, nearly 700 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel, in an escalation which began on Saturday morning at 10. The Iron Dome missile defence system has intercepted at least 150 of the rockets.
A five-hour meeting of the government’s Security Cabinet ended at 8 p.m. on Sunday.
“The Cabinet has instructed the IDF to continue the strikes and to prepare for continuation. The supreme consideration is the security of the state and its residents,” read a short statement issued by the Cabinet at the conclusion of the meeting.
The Israel Defence Forces reported on Sunday evening that some 280 Hamas and Islamic Jihad military targets have been attacked in retaliatory strikes since Saturday evening. The IDF struck a building located in a residential neighbourhood in Gaza City that Hamas uses for operational purposes, including protecting and hiding terror infrastructures, the IDF said in a statement.
The attack on the building came after the IDF’s cyber defensive operation thwarted an attempted cyber-attack by Hamas that originated from the building, the IDF said.
Gaza authorities reported that the Palestinian death toll since the start of Israeli retaliatory strikes was at 16 on Sunday evening, according to Haaretz.
Also on Sunday, the IDF cancelled classes for all schools located up to 25 miles from the border with Gaza. Only workplaces with bomb shelters will be permitted to open up in the same area.
JPOST.COM/JTA
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