Israel, Palestine factions agree to ceasefire proposal

14 Nov 2019; MEMO: After two days of air strikes on the Gaza Strip which have killing 34 Palestinians and wounding 111 others, Israel and the Palestinian resistance this morning agreed to an Egyptian brokered ceasefire proposal.

Spokesman of the Islamic Jihad Mus’ab Al-Breem said that his movement set conditions to accept the ceasefire, which was mediated by Egypt and the UN, and Israel agreed to them.

Al-Breem said: “The occupation surrendered to the conditions of the resistance.”

The Israeli Hebrew newspaper Maariv reported a senior diplomatic source saying: “Israel achieved the goals of the operation. The Islamic Jihad suffered severe damage and we destroyed its infrastructure and killed more than 20 operatives.”

“Israel did not offer anything. The actions on the ground would decide. We will harm anyone who harms us.”

Haaretz reported sources saying that the ceasefire proposed by Egypt would see the Palestinian groups immediately stop firing rockets.

The sources also said, according to Haaretz, that Israel immediately stopped its attacks and assassinations in Gaza and would cease to use live ammunitions against the weekly Great Return March and Breaking the Siege protests.

On the ground, the sounds of Israeli military drones can still be heard buzzing overhead.

The ceasefire was announced after Israel killed 34 Palestinians, including eight from the same families, and wounded 111 others.

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN envoy to the Middle East peace process, said that the ceasefire was a fruit of joint Egyptian and UN efforts.

“Egypt and the UN worked hard to prevent the most dangerous escalation in and around Gaza from leading to war,” he wrote on Twitter.

He added: “The coming hours and days will be critical. ALL must show maximum restraint and do their part to prevent bloodshed. The Middle East does not need more wars.”