"Great March of Return" demonstrations in Gaza
Hamas announced early Saturday that a ceasefire has been reached between Palestinian resistance movements and Israel.
"A ceasefire has been reached between the [Israeli] occupation and the Palestinian factions under the mediation of Egypt and international sides," Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said in a written statement.
The statement did not provide further details.
Four Palestinians were killed Friday by Israeli forces in two separate incidents near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.The first incident took place in the Khan Younis and Rafah areas in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli tanks and aircraft targeted sites belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas movement, killing three of its members.“Three Palestinians were martyred by Israeli occupation forces, including two in the northern Gaza Strip and a third in the southern city of Rafah,” ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.Israel’s Lieberman threatens ‘painful’ Gaza offensiveHe did not provide the names or ages of the slain individuals.However, the al-Qassam Brigades identified the killed men as Shaaban Abu Khater, 26, Mohamed Abu Farhana, 31, and Mahmoud Qeshta, 23.The second incident took place at the return marches, where a young man was killed and 120 others were wounded by Israeli army gunfire and tear gas.Palestinian experts slam Israel’s ‘Jewish State’ lawGaza’s incendiary kite-flyers defy Israeli threatsThe Palestinian Health Ministry identified the martyr as Mohamed Sherif Badwan, 27, who was shot in the chest by the Israeli army, east of Gaza city.For almost four months, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been holding almost daily demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.Since the demonstrations began on March 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine, from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
Four Palestinians in Gaza Strip killed by Israeli forces
Three Palestinians were martyred late Friday when Israeli tanks and aircraft targeted sites belonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam, the armed wing of the Hamas movement.
Another Palestinian was martyred during the ongoing Great March of Return protests on the Gaza border.
The losses were followed by a major Israeli assault on Gaza, reportedly with tanks, warplanes and artillery fire.
The Israeli military also said that one of its soldiers was killed Friday after coming under fire from gunmen on the Gaza side of the border.