The nightmare is over! The Hamas and Israel agreed to Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement, affected from Tuesday evening. The agreement asked for an indefinite stop to the ongoing conflict. The agreement also proposed immediate opening of Gaza’s blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt.
The agreement also called for reconstruction materials and humanitarian supplies to be allowed in Gaza city while the fishing area will be extended to six miles. The negotiations are on for many controversial issues including releasing of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the ceasefire in Jerusalem, claiming victory in the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
However, the truth seems far from his claim. Israel has to call the ceasefire following growing criticism over its forced massacre in Gaza city. Over 2,139 people, mostly civilians including 490 children have killed by Israeli rocket attacks. Israel lost 70 people including six civilians.
Netanyahu said the Israeli forced successfully destroyed many Islamic militant group and threatened them by saying, “If it resumes fire, we will not tolerate a sprinkle of shooting at any part of Israel, what we did in response now, we will respond even more vigorously.”
But Netanyahu was under fire at home. Israeli media targeted him for his weak leadership during the fiercest and prolonged war against Palestine in decades.
In Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians came out on streets, cheering and waving Hamas banners, celebrating their victory against Israel.
Deputy leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, proclaimed victory over Israel in the latest fighting.
“The victory this time is greater than ever before,” he said.
Claiming the deal a victory, Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum told reporters, “We have achieved most of our goals and targets – we hit the occupation. “In the future the resistance will be about to go to Jerusalem and [the current war] paves the way to our target of reaching al Aqsa and Jerusalem.”
“Today, we are telling Israel as the agreement has started – you can go home because of a decision taken by Hamas, not taken by Netanyahu,” he added.
Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu ceasefire Gaza Hamas Israel Palestine