Islamic Jihad Threatens to Resume Attacks Against Israel if Truce Conditions Not Respected

DOHA (Sputnik) - The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has warned that it will abandon the ceasefire with Israel and will resume strikes from Gaza if the Israeli authorities violate the conditions of the truce, Ziyad Nakhalah, the leader of Islamic Jihad, said.

"If the enemy does not comply with the terms of the Palestinian resistance movement, we will consider the agreement invalid and resume the fight again without a moment's hesitation," Ziyad Nakhalah said as quoted by the Yemeni Al-Masirah TV channel.

The Islamic Jihad leader emphasized that the ceasefire deal reached with Israel is straightforward and includes clear provisions, such as the release of two of the Palestinian movement’s commanders from prison, something that was promised by Egyptian mediators.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid's press office confirmed on Sunday that the truce between Israel and Islamic Jihad was going into effect at 11:30 p.m. local time (20:30 GMT).

Late on Sunday night, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that air raid sirens sounded in southern Israel after the ceasefire took effect. The Jerusalem Post reported that multiple rockets were fired toward southern Israel minutes after the truce with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad went into effect.

The IDF launched an operation dubbed Breaking Dawn against the Palestinian movement of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip on Friday. Lapid said on Sunday that the objectives of the Breaking Dawn operation had been achieved.

On Friday, the IDF confirmed that a senior Islamic Jihad commander in northern Gaza, Tayseer Jabari, was killed in an Israeli airstrike that day. Another high-ranking commander, Khaled Mansour, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Saturday night.