After three days of deadly cross-border fighting, Hamas militants say they have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel, regional media reported.
“Responding to the Egyptian efforts to try and stop the aggression on our people, we and all armed resistance factions announce our commitment to stop this round of confrontation as long as [Israel] stops this aggression,” Ezzedine Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement issued late on Wednesday.
The violence erupted on Monday after an attack launched from Egypt's Sinai desert killed an Israeli civilian. Two of the attackers were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops. A newly formed radical Islamist movement, the so-called Shura Council of Mujahideen in the Holy Land, claimed responsibility for the raid.
Nine Palestinians, including at least one teenager, were killed and 17 others were injured in ensuing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, Palestinians doctors said.
Gaza militants fired dozens of rockets at Israel over the past three days. One of the rockets hit a border checkpoint on Tuesday, injuring an Israeli border guard.
