GAZA/JERUSALEM, May 4 (NNN-WAFA) – Calm was resumed in the Gaza Strip early yesterday, when Palestinian officials declared an immediate ceasefire, to start before dawn in the coastal enclave, Palestinian sources said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian medics said, a man in Gaza, identified as Hashel Mubarak, 58, was killed, and five other Palestinians were injured, in the intensive Israeli airstrikes overnight.
Israeli fighter jets, drones, and helicopters carried out dozens of intensive airstrikes on Hamas military posts overnight in Gaza, causing severe damage to homes and facilities, Palestinian security officials and eyewitnesses said.
In the early morning hours, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced that, all security restrictions, which had been imposed on Tuesday, on residents in communities near the Gaza Strip, were lifted, allowing schools to be reopened.
The ceasefire was reached after intensive talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations to contain the current wave of tension.
Palestinian sources said that, explosion sounds and warning sirens, which had been going on for the past few hours, died away in Gaza.
The sources said, the ceasefire was “conditional on the commitment of the two sides.”
Over the night, Palestinian militants fired dozens of rockets and projectiles from the coastal enclave at southern Israel, wounding at least nine Israelis and causing damage to buildings and vehicles, Israel media reported.
Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), claimed responsibility for firing rockets and projectiles at southern Israel.
The firing of rockets came in response to the death of Khader Adnan, a senior PIJ member who died in Israeli custody after he went on a hunger strike for 86 days.– NNN-WAFA
