Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization claimed late Tuesday afternoon that a ceasefire has been arranged with Israel, and was officially in place as of 4:45 pm, according to a report by the U.S.-based Fox News television network.
According to the report, Hamas said that it will hold its fire and refrain from rocket attacks if the IDF agrees to hold its fire.
Whether or not that actually bears out in practice remains to be seen: the bodies of two IDF soldiers are still being held by Hamas in Gaza four years later following the last war in which Hamas terrorists violating ceasefires several times, including one of the final agreements during which the terrorists killed IDF soldier Oron Shaul and IDF officer Hadar Goldin, and then stole their bodies. Hamas is still holding them hostage till this day, along with at least two other live captives still being held as well.
An Egyptian security delegation is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to discuss ways to bring Hamas and Israel to the negotiating table and create a “calm” between them.
SDEROT: Scene of a direct hit of one of Hamas' rockets fired from , which hit a bakery last night.
The structure suffered severe damage, luckily, no injuries. pic.twitter.com/PDRduFTDTA— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA)
The IDF said Tuesday evening that Iron Dome fighters have intercepted more than 100 of the 460 launches that were identified as having been fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, according to the Hebrew-language Walla! news site.
One person was killed — a 48-year-old Palestinian Authority citizen who was staying in the city of Ashkelon — and 90 others were wounded, including at least three with critical injuries and a number of others in serious condition.
The IDF attacked about 160 terrorist targets belonging to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, including four unique terrorist tunnels.