An explosion is seen during Israeli air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip October 27, 2018. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
October 27, 2018
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Palestinian militants said on Saturday they would halt attacks into Israel from the Gaza Strip after they fired the heaviest rocket salvoes across the border since August.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of the armed groups that operates in Gaza, said it had fired the rockets in retaliation for Israel’s killing of four Palestinian protesters on Friday near the border.
Israel in response struck dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
A spokesman for the militants said an Egyptian-mediated truce had been reached.
“After contacts between the Islamic Jihad leadership and the brothers in Egypt it was agreed that a comprehensive ceasefire will begin immediately,” spokesman Daoud Shehab said. “The Islamic Jihad will abide by the ceasefire if the occupation (Israel) does the same.”
Earlier, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus accused Syria and Iran of involvement in the rocket attack.
“Orders and incentives were given from Damascus with a clear involvement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards al-Quds force,” Conricus told reporters. “Our response is not limited geographically.”
(Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by John Stonestreet)
