Calm Returns as Israel-Gaza Ceasefire Takes Hold
Several senior Islamic Jihad commanders were killed in targeted strikes. Two deaths on the Israeli side of the border, one of them a Palestinian from Gaza.
Iron dome anti-missile system fires interception missiles as rockets fired from the Gaza Strip to Israel, in Sderot on May 13, 2023.
A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization took hold as Saturday night passed without rocket fire.
“National Security Council director Tzachi Hanegbi, on instruction from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and expressed the appreciation of the State of Israel for Egypt’s intensive efforts to secure a ceasefire,” read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The NSC director made it clear that Israel’s acceptance of the Egyptian initiative means that ‘quiet will be met with quiet,’ and that if Israel is attacked or threatened, it will continue to do everything that it needs to in order to defend itself,” the statement added.
Restrictions on crowd sizes and requirements to remain close to bomb shelters were lifted on Sunday morning for towns between 7-40 km from the Gaza border. The Home Front Command said that restrictions on communities closer to the Strip will remain in effect until noon.
Two people on the Israeli side were killed in the rocket attacks. One was identified as 80-year-old Inga Avramyan, who was helping her wheelchair-bound husband, Sergey, reach a shelter when a rocket struck their apartment building in Rehovot. Sergey is hospitalized.
The second fatality was a 35-year-old Palestinian laborer from Gaza who was doing construction work at Moshav Shokeda, in the Negev. The construction work was in violation of Home Front Command instructions, as the building did not have a reinforced safe room and authorities are investigating.
At least 69 Israelis were injured in the attacks.
During five days of fighting, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired more than 1,469 rockets at Israel. According to the Israel Defense Forces, most landed harmlessly in open areas, but 439 were intercepted by the Iron Dome or David’s Sling defense systems.
The IDF also said it detected 291 failed rocket launches, of which 39 landed in the sea and the rest landing inside Gaza. Israel said failed Islamic Jihad launches were responsible for the deaths of four Palestinians inside the Strip.
The strikes on the Islamic Jihad leaders come against the backdrop of a rocket barrage fired by the terror group following the death of Khader Adnan on May 2. The imprisoned Adnan, a senior Islamic Jihad figure, died after an 86-day hunger strike. The terror group had threatened throughout Adnan’s hunger strike that it would hold Israel responsible for its member’s death.
During the five-day conflict, several senior Islamic Jihad commanders were killed in targeted strikes.
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