Hamas Retaliatory Attacks Force Israel to Accept Ceasefire

The ceasefire came into effect from 02:00 am on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday), according to the regime’s announcement on Thursday.

"The Security Cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendation of all heads of security services, the chief of general staff, the head of Shin Bet (the regime’s internal security service), the head of the Mossad (the regime’s spy agency), and the head of the National Security Council to accept the Egyptian initiative on a bilateral ceasefire, which will come into force later," the statement said.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan also confirmed reports about the potential of the truce, in remarks to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network, saying, "The resistance movement has received guarantees from the mediators that the aggression on Gaza will stop."

According to NBC News, the Egyptian government -- which has in the past been involved in mediatory efforts between the two sides -- said the truce would be "mutual and simultaneous."

The Israeli regime intensified its attacks against Gaza after the coastal sliver rose up in protest in support of the Palestinians in the Israeli-blockaded West Bank, who had come under weeks of significantly violent Israeli assaults.

“Other guarantees have also been received about the expulsion of the occupying regime from al-Quds’ Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and the al-Aqsa Mosque,” Hamdan added.

The resistance began its reprisal on the exact day as the escalation started and has so far, according to Tel Aviv itself, fired more than 4,000 rockets towards the occupied territories.

The reprisal has swept through the entirety of the occupied lands.

Also on Thursday, it was reported that continued avalanche of retaliatory rockets from the Gaza Strip had imposed a complete shutdown over Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv, the Israeli regime’s main air terminal.

Israeli media outlets said the airport was closed off to all inbound and outbound flights. The inbound flights were all redirected to the Ramon Airport located in the Timna Valley in the extreme southern part of the occupied territories.

The rocket attacks also earlier set off sirens throughout the whole “Gaza envelope,” which comprises the illegal Israeli settlements that lie within seven kilometers (4.3 miles) of the coastal sliver.

The Gaza-based resistance movement of Hamas identified the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon near the enclave’s border with the occupied territories as the latest target of its counterattacks.

The Israeli attacks have killed hundreds in Gaza and scores of others in the West Bank. At least 10 people have, meanwhile, been killed during the resistance’s retaliation.

Reports about the regime’s intention towards a truce came a day after deputy Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq declared victory on the part of the resistance group, and predicted that Tel Aviv would stop its attacks soon.