Four Palestinians were martyred in Gaza Friday, in a new wave of Israeli violence against the besieged strip.
Two Palestinians were martyred in an Israeli strike east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave said.
A third man was martyred by Israeli fire east of Rafah, also in southern Gaza, the ministry said, identifying the three men as Shaban abu Khatar, Mohammed abu Farhana and Mahmoud Qushta.
For its part, the occupation military claimed its aircraft and tanks had targeted “eight military posts” belonging to Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.
A fourth man named as Mohammed Badwan was later shot dead by Israeli occupation forces during protests along the border, Gaza’s health ministry said.
Meanwhile, Israeli media outlets reported that an Israeli soldier was killed after being targeted by a Palestinian sniper in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli trooper was injured after Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli military forces engaged in an exchange of gunfire.
Shortly after the Israeli attacks, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, called on both sides to “step back from the brink” of war.
“Everyone in Gaza needs to step back from the brink. Not next week. Not tomorrow. Right NOW”, he tweeted, adding, “Those who want to provoke Palestinians and Israelis into another war must not succeed.”
Later after midnight, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the UN and Egypt had helped negotiate a ceasefire, with an agreement reached “to return to the previous state of calm between the occupation and the Palestinian factions”.
The Zionist entity did not confirm the deal, which was the second such ceasefire agreement in a week.
In another development, Israeli minister for military affairs Avigdor Lieberman warned Hamas of a “much tougher” response if the resistance group fired more rockets from Gaza.
“If Hamas continues to fire rockets, then Israel will respond in a much tougher way than they (the Hamas leadership) think,” he said.
Lieberman’s rhetoric, however, was not left unanswered by Hamas, which warned the Zionist regime of consequences if it continued attacks on Palestinian protesters.
Nearly 150 Palestinians have been martyred by Israeli forces ever since the “Great March of Return” began in the Gaza Strip on March 30.
A total of 14,811 Palestinians have also sustained injuries of whom 366 are reportedly in critical condition.
Source: Agencies
