What the official Israeli government statement says about the ceasefire with Hamas

After eleven days of clashes, this Thursday evening, Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip, agreed to a ceasefire, which took effect at 2 a.m. (local time). ).

The Israeli government said in a statement that “The Security Cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendation of all security officials, the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the head of the ASI (General Security Service), the head of the Mossad and the director of the National Security Council. to accept the Egyptian initiative of a mutual ceasefire without preconditions, which would come into effect at a time to be determined.

“The IDF Chief of Staff, the military and the ISA chief briefed ministers on Israel’s significant achievements in the operation, some of them unprecedented. The political leadership emphasizes that it is the reality on the ground that will determine the future of the operation», Adds the text published by the army.

In Gaza, Hamas terrorists confirmed the entry into force of this truce from 2 a.m. local time Friday (23 GMT Thursday). Besides Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the enclave’s second-largest armed Islamist group, confirmed the truce.

“Two Egyptian delegations will be sent to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian Territories to monitor the application (of the ceasefire) and the process of maintaining stable conditions at all times,” sources told AFP. that this “simultaneous and mutual” truce was “negotiated by Egypt.”

The announcement comes after more than ten days of bloody clashes between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups. On May 10, Hamas began hostilities by firing rounds of rockets into Israeli soil.

Following these initial rocket attacks, Israel launched a military operation to “reduce” Hamas’ military capabilities by launching aerial bombardments against terrorist targets. IDF has achieved many strategic goals and killed several of its leaders. The last major attacks reported involved new Hamas tunnels, which left several injured.

The IDF said that during the early hours of Thursday they attacked “dozens” of points in the group’s tunnel network, known as the “metro”, as well as “other terrorist targets”.

Among the targets attacked were “a military infrastructure at the home of a commander of the Khan Younis battalion, Ali Abu Zarqa, as well as weapons production sites and submarine launch points”. Authorities in the Gaza Strip said at least 232 people had died in the enclave since the fighting began.

On your side, Hamas and Jihad launched more than 4,300 rockets at Israel, an intensity never seen against this country, which has the advanced anti-missile shield “Iron Dome” which intercepted 90% of the projectiles. However, the figure is already higher given that Soon after, sirens sounded again in southern cities like Ashdod and Ashkelon. And they did it again in the same area a few minutes after the ceasefire was announced.

The clashes caused more than 230 dead on the Palestinian side and 12 in Israel, including a six-year-old boy, a 16-year-old teenager and a soldier.

Before the United Nations General Assembly, the Secretary General Antonio Guterres he said Thursday that “the clashes should end immediately” and that they were “unacceptable”.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, supported Thursday the “indirect contacts” with Hamas, essential according to it to achieve a ceasefire with Israel.

Merkel also pleaded for a “rapid ceasefire” in a telephone interview with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Following the call from the President of the United States, Joe bidenIn favor of an immediate “de-escalation”, the head of German diplomacy, Heiko Maas, arrived in the region on Thursday.

The UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, was in Qatar, where he was due to meet with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, diplomatic sources reported.

The UN Human Rights Council, for its part, has announced that it will hold a special meeting on May 27 on the situation in the Palestinian territories.

With information from AFP

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