Cease-fire between Israel, Palestinian militants holds

A cease-fire brokered by Egypt and agreed to by Israel and Palestinian militants was upheld on Monday morning, following three days of violence and bloodshed that saw Gaza buildings levelled and crude rockets flying into Israel at improved ranges than previously.

The last three days saw the worst fighting since an 11-day war last year between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

During the fighting over the weekend, 44 Palestinians were killed, among them 15 children and four women, and 311 were wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

What happens if the cease-fire holds?

Israel hopes to reopen crossings into Gaza for humanitarian reasons and said it would fully open border crossings if things remained calm.

Fuel trucks entered a cargo crossing for the first time since Gaza, along with its numerous border crossings, was sealed last week.

Gaza's only power plant ran out of fuel and ceased operating on Saturday as a result. It reopened on Monday, somewhat easing the chronic electricity shortage.

In Israel, security restrictions are being gradually lifted throughout the day, following the days of rocket fire and disruptions caused by the flare-up in tensions.

What are both sides saying about the cease fire?

One senior diplomatic Israeli source told the Associated Press that the result of the fighting would be to set back Islamic Jihad's operations by decades and complicate its relations with the ruling Hamas party in Gaza. While the violence had threatened to spiral out of control, Hamas opted to remain on the sidelines.

Israel launched the operation to take out a leader of Islamic Jihad on Friday, alleging "concrete threats" of an anti-tank missile attack against Israel following the arrest of a different leader in the West Bank last week.

Both sides claimed operational success as the cease-fire held.

"This is a victory for Islamic Jihad," the group's leader, Ziad al-Nakhalah, said from Tehran. 

He said that despite the loss of two leaders and 10 members, the militant group remained a force.

Israel's missile defense system, known as Iron Dome, was able to intercept many of the rockets fired by the group and the result was no Israeli casualties.

Part of the cease-fire deal Egypt brokered stated Egypt would push to see two senior Islamic Jihad detainees held by Israel released, but this outcome is not guaranteed. US President Joe Biden welcomed the cease-fire.

On Monday, Israeli troops demolished the homes of two Palestinians who they said carried out a deadly attack in the city of Elad that killed Israelis in May. During that military operation, Israeli soldiers faced violent protest, the Israeli military said.

What happened during the three days of fighting?

Beginning last Friday, Israel hit Gaza with airstrikes and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which receives support from Iran, fired hundreds of rockets into Israel.

Twelve of those in Gaza were killed by misfired rockets in Gaza, Islamic Jihad said. Israel said some of the deaths in the recent round of violence resulted from misfired rockets.

Of the approximately 1,000 rockets Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched into Israel over the weekend, Israel estimated one-fifth fell short and landed in Gaza.

One such incident occurred Saturday in northern Gaza in the Jebaliya refugee camp when a projectile hit a home. On Sunday two men were killed in the same area in Jeballiya.

Both sides traded blame for the deaths of Palestinians in the violence over the weekend.

Both the US and the European Union have classified Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a terror group.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid authorized the offensive less than three months before a general election where he hopes to remain in power. 

Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since 2007, when Hamas seized control in Gaza following Israel's withdrawal in 2005.

Gaza is home to approximately 2 million people who live in difficult conditions as a result of Israel's blockade on the militant groups in charge, a move supported by neighboring Egypt. Both Israel and Egypt say the blockade is necessary because of security concerns.

The UN Security Council was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on the issue later on Monday.

ar/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)