BICOM

Reports this morning indicate that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire following a sharp upsurge in violence yesterday in southern Israel and the Gaza region.

Yesterday, Israel’s southern communities were subjected to a day-long barrage of up to 80 rockets and mortars fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. During the barrage three foreign workers were injured, schools in the region were closed and residents spent much of the day in shelters or secured areas. Israel responded to the rocket fire with a series of air strikes and tank fire on strategic rocket-launching positions in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said that three Hamas members had been killed during these strikes.

Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, but has largely refrained from direct attacks on Israel in recent months, claimed responsibility for much of yesterday’s violence. Its armed wing, Izzadin Kassam, said it was behind the rocket fire, and released a video on its website showing its militants launching multiple rockets.

Yesterday, with many southern residents calling for the government to do more to protect them, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that should the violence continue, “we are prepared to embark on a far more extensive and penetrating operation.” However, widespread reports this morning indicate that Egyptian intelligence officer Maj. Gen. Nader al-Aasr has brokered a ceasefire between the two sides.

A Palestinian official told Reuters, “The contacts Cairo made resulted in a verbal promise by Hamas to calm the situation down and Israel said it was monitoring calm on the ground and would refrain from attacks unless it was subject to rocket fire from Gaza.”

An Israeli military official explained to Channel Ten that neither side wants to see a major escalation in the violence. For Israel, he explained “Military action will likely ignite the region, which is a matter that will require a prolonged military operation with casualties”, while “Hamas and the [Islamist] factions [in the Gaza Strip] are interested in silence, we estimate, on account of Eid al-Adha [holiday] in the coming days.”