GAZA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- A senior official in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced that a ceasefire with Israel in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has come into effect on Monday night.

The ceasefire ends two days of tension that broke out on Sunday between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip after Israeli soldiers shot and killed a PIJ militant.

Ihsan Ataya, a senior Islamic Jihad leader based in Lebanon, told Xinhua on telephone that following Egyptian and international mediations, a ceasefire came into effect on Monday night.

"It was agreed that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is mutual and synchronous," he said, adding that his group's militants "will respond to any breaching or violation of the ceasefire."

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said in a press statement that eight family members were injured by the shrapnel of an Israeli Iron Dom missile, which exploded over their home in eastern Gaza City on Monday before the ceasefire took effect.

The statement said that 15 Palestinians were injured, two of them were in serious conditions, following two days of tension between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip.

Over the past two days, Israeli war jets struck positions and posts that belong to the PIJ on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli airstrikes were launched on the coastal enclave in response to the firing of barrages of rockets into southern Israel. Enditem

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)