By Zeynep Tufekci
GAZA, Palestine (AA): Hamas announced early Saturday that a ceasefire has been reached between Palestinian resistance movements and Israel.
“A ceasefire has been reached between the [Israeli] occupation and the Palestinian factions under the mediation of Egypt and international sides,” Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a written statement.
The statement did not provide further details.
Three Palestinians were killed late Friday when Israeli tanks and aircraft targeted sites belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam, the armed wing of the Hamas movement.
Another Palestinian was kiled during the ongoing Great March of Return protests on the Gaza border.
The losses were followed by a major Israeli assault on Gaza, reportedly with tanks, warplanes and artillery fire.
The Israeli strikes were carried out in several parts of the Gaza Strip, including sites run by the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed of Hamas, in Rafah and Khan Younis, in addition to missiles fired into the Zeitoun neighborhoods, east of Gaza city, causing several injuries.
The soldiers also fired at least eleven missiles into two sites, west of Khan Younis, causing serious damage.
The bombing came just hours after Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated that he was planning to launch a large-scale war in Gaza similar to the one in 2014, in which 2200 people were killed. In his statement, he said the ‘Palestinian people will pay the price’ for the continued non-violent protests at the border, which have been going on for 100 days.
The Israeli army said one of its soldiers was seriously injured by Hamas fighters near the southern part of the Gaza Strip, during what it called a military activity near the border fence, in southern Gaza, and later died from his wounds.
The Israeli army claims it “was retaliating to shells fired against its soldiers near Gaza’s eastern border area, while Hamas said it was retaliating to the killing of four Palestinians by army missiles, Friday.
Addition report from Imemc.org
[Photo: Smoke and flames rise into the air after Israeli air strikes targeted points, reported to belong to Hamas, in Ez-Zeitoun town south of Gaza City, Gaza on July 20, 2018. Photographer: Ali Jadallah/AA]