Israel-Gaza, truce holds up: Hamas claims “victory”

It has been in effect since 2 am and seems to hold up the truce reached with the mediation of Egypt between Israel and Hamas after eleven days of battle. No rocket fires from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Israel have been reported until dawn and, according to the Times of Israel, there are no reports of Israeli raids in the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted that he will travel “to the region in the next few days” for talks with Israeli diplomacy chief, Gabi Ashkenazi, with Israeli, Palestinian and regional leaders. Read also Hamas claimed the “victory” and thousands of people, according to the Jazeera, went out to the streets to celebrate the ceasefire in the Palestinian Territories. “Today the resistance declares victory over the enemies,” said Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas’ number two in Gaza, as reported by the Jerusalem Post. The Times of Israel speaks of thousands of people gathered this morning in Khan Yunis, in the southern Strip, outside the home of Mohammed Deif, head of the armed wing of Hamas. For Ali Barakeh, of Islamic Jihad, the truce is a defeat for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a “victory for the Palestinian people.” The toll of almost two weeks of hostility, which began on May 10, speaks of 232 Palestinians killed in the raids Israelis and 12 deaths in Israel due to rockets launched from Gaza. In the past few hours with a tweet the UN envoy for the Middle East, Tor Wennesland, welcomed “the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel”, made the condolences “to the victims of violence and their loved ones” and thanked “Egypt and Qatar for the efforts made, in close contact with the UN, to restore calm”. “Now – he added – the work of building Palestine can begin”. And the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in a series of tweets thanked the American president Joe Biden “for his role” for the success of the Egyptian ceasefire initiative. Ceasefire Israel’s security cabinet voted yesterday to accept a ceasefire with Gaza. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in a statement that the security cabinet has decided to accept the Egyptian proposal for “a mutual ceasefire” with Hamas “without any preconditions”. According to Israeli sites. , ministers voted unanimously in favor of a ceasefire after military leaders indicated that Israel had achieved all possible military targets in the conflict with Hamas in Gaza during the 11-day bombing campaign. “Hamas has suffered heavy losses and has been discouraged,” ministers were told at the meeting, according to Ynet. Hamas also confirmed the “mutual and simultaneous truce” starting at 2am today.