Islamic Jihad Fires Missiles
Islamic Jihad Fires MissilesIsrael news photo: Islamic Jihad

Islamic Jihad terrorists have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire on condition that Israel does not continue to strike terror targets. Virtually every previous Gaza ceasefire has broken down, sometimes within hours and no longer than within several weeks. 

The announcement came three hours after a halt in rocket and mortar shell attacks on Israel.The IDF also has held its fire since the early morning attacks. One missile exploded in an athletic field, but no one was wounded.

One Ashkelon resident was killed by a Grad rocket in an attack Saturday night, and dozens of others suffered injuries and shock.

Islamic Jihad and other terrorist factions earlier Sunday morning rejected the Egyptian initiative, while the Ramallah-based part of the Palestinian Authority warned that failure to do so would give “Israel a pretext to wage a new war on Gaza and to tighten the siege.”

The Al-Quds Brigade of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad had vowed revenge for Israeli counterterrorist attacks they described as
a crime aimed to spoil the joyfulness after the prisoner swap deal which secured freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life (terms) in Israel.

The Ayman Juda Brigades, part of the  Al-Aqsa Brigades that is allied with Fatah, headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, also threatened that “the coming hours will see all Palestinian factions retaliating to the crime the Zionists committed against the al-Quds Brigades fighters.”

The de facto Hamas regime in Gaza did not take responsibility for the rocket attacks but also did not try to prevent them. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused Israel of a "serious escalation against our people."