a truce concluded between Israel and Gaza after five days of war and 35 dead

The Middle East region offers a respite. A truce negotiated by Egypt came into effect on the evening of Saturday May 13 after five days of war between the Israeli army and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza that left 35 dead. A few more rockets were fired in the quarter of an hour following the theoretical entry into force of the truce (9 p.m. in Paris), followed by new Israeli strikes before a return to calm.

Celebrating a “victoire” waving Palestinian flags or various armed groups, a few hundred people gathered in the evening in a square in Gaza. This week’s deadly escalation was the most violent between Gaza and Israel since August 2022. It began on Tuesday with airstrikes that killed three military commanders of the Islamic Jihad, a movement described as “terrorist” both by the United States and the European Union and by Israel.

“Restore Calm”

Israel and Islamic Jihad thanked Egypt for its mediation, which Washington also praised. The White House welcomed the announcement of a truce “in order to avoid further loss of life and restore calm, both for the Israelis and the Palestinians”, underlined the American presidency, in a press release. In Gaza, the Islamic Jihad spokesman warned Israel against “any stupid action or assassination of commanders […] of the Palestinian resistance”.

“Israel’s response to the Egyptian initiative” means that “the answer to calm will be calm, and that if Israel is attacked or threatened, it will continue to do whatever it needs to do to defend itself”, detailed an official statement from the Israeli government, without confirming any agreement. In Gaza, a territory under Israeli blockade since the Islamist movement Hamas took power in 2007, the Interior Ministry accused Israel of concentrating its strikes “on civilian targets and residential buildings”.