Following three days of hostilities, Israel and the Palestinian “Islamic Jihad” (PIJ) group have declared a truce, which came into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time last Sunday.
Since then, fuel trucks have been allowed to enter Gaza from Israel, supplying the territory’s power plant, which had been inoperative since Saturday, August 6th.
The recent flare up which this truce is addressing began when Israeli officers arrested senior PIJ member Bassam al-Saadi. Following this, on Friday, August 5th, Israel engaged in an air raid of Gaza, perhaps anticipating the PIJ backlash for the arrest.
The raid succeeded in killing one of the commanders of the PIJ’s military arm (called the al-Quds Brigades), Taysir al-Jabari. Al-Jabari was also part of the group’s military council, and so represented a significant target.
The bombing apparently also injured dozens of people, who had to be hospitalized, resulting in the ten deaths, including a 5-year-old girl.
The PIJ reacted by firing 470 rockets on Israel since Friday, almost all of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Over the weekend, the total death toll in Gaza rose to 44 people, among which were 15 children.
Israeli authorities have reported that some of the deaths in Gaza were the result of approximately 20% of PIJ missiles falling short of their target and falling in the Palestinian territory itself. Hamas, the group that administers Gaza, has denied this.
The PIJ does not have long-range weapons like Hamas.
