GAZA, Feb 25 (NNN-Xinhua) — A senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) said a ceasefire with Israel in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip came into effect on Monday night.
Ihsan Ataya, a senior Islamic Jihad leader based in Lebanon told Xinhua over telephone that the ceasefire came into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time (2130 GMT) on Monday following Egyptian and international mediation.
“It was agreed that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is mutual and synchronous,” he said, adding that his group’s members “will respond to any breach or violation of the ceasefire.”
The ceasefire ended two days of tension that broke out on Sunday between Israel and the Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip after Israel shot and killed a PIJ member and then tried to remove his body with a bulldozer.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a press statement that eight members of a family were injured by the shrapnel of an Israeli Iron Dome missile, which exploded over their home in eastern Gaza City.
During the past two days, Israeli war jets struck dozens of PIJ-linked targets in Gaza in response to the PIJ’s rocket attacks on southern Israel.
