Gaza: ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas – 20/07/2018

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A ceasefire agreement that reduces the specter of a new war was found early Saturday between Israel and Hamas, after a day on Friday when the Israeli army massively bombed the Gaza Strip.

This escalation of violence claimed the lives of four Palestinians and one Israeli soldier.

"Thanks to the efforts of Egypt and the United Nations, we reached an agreement to to return to the state of calm that preceded the (Israeli) occupation and the Palestinian factions, "Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a statement.

On Friday, an Israeli soldier was shot dead by Palestinian gunfire along the border. the first killed near Gaza since the war that pitted Israel against the Islamist Hamas movement that controls this Palestinian territory in 2014, told AFP a military spokesman.

In retaliation for the death of his soldier "during an incident" near the Palestinian enclave, the Israeli army reported conducting a series of air raids "against military targets". Impressive fireballs and plumes of smoke rose in the sky of Gaza after these strikes.

Two Palestinians were killed near Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, by Israeli strikes against a Hamas observation post, according to security sources and the Ministry of Health in Gaza. A third died in a bombing in Rafah, in the same area.

A fourth was killed by Israeli gunfire near the border area east of Gaza City, according to the Ministry of Health Gaza

Since 30 March, Palestinians have been demonstrating regularly in the border area to denounce the Israeli blockade of Gaza and demand the return of Palestinian refugees who fled or fled their lands in 1948 when the state was created. Israel. At least 149 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since that date.

There have been three wars between Hamas and Israel since 2008. The Israeli authorities have accused Hamas of choosing "escalation".

Calls for restraint

UN Special Envoy for the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov called on Israel and Hamas to restrain

"Everyone in the Gaza Strip needs to away from the precipice, not next week, not tomorrow, IMMEDIATELY, "Mladenov wrote on his Twitter account. "Those who want to provoke a war between Palestinians and Israelis must not succeed," he added.

In the evening, three rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel, according to the army. "If Hamas continues its rocket fire, Israel will react much harder than they (the Hamas leaders) think," Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led Friday night consultations with Chief of Staff Gen. Gadi Eisenkot and Mr. Lieberman at the Ministry of Defense

Israel is particularly angry at kites and incendiary balloons launched by some protesters fired, according to him, to more than 2,600 hectares in Israeli territory.

M. Lieberman has increased in recent days threats of a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip. Israeli television broadcast this week footage of army maneuvers training for a land incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Last weekend, Israel and Hamas had their biggest confrontation since the war in 2014. Israel had conducted dozens of air raids in response to incendiary projectiles, killing two Palestinian teenagers. About 200 rockets and shells were then fired from the enclave to Israel.

Reinforced Blockade

Israel has further reinforced this week the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Oil and gas deliveries are interrupted until Sunday via Kerem Shalom, the only crossing point for goods between Israel and this Palestinian territory.

Last week, Israel had already announced the closure of this crossing point for a number of goods, Hamas denouncing a "crime against humanity."

Israel has also reduced the sea area open to fishermen in Gaza.

For more than a decade, the Palestinian enclave wedged between Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean has been subjected to a strict Israeli land, sea and air blockade.

The strengthening of the blockade intensifies pressure on Hamas in a territory where some 80 percent of the two million people depend on aid, according to the World Bank.