At least 29 people died in bloody Israel-Gaza Airstrike and Rockets attacks, signalling a violent resurgence for the first time in years
Four Israelis and 24 Palestinians were killed in a resurgence of deadly violence the two areas haven’t seen since 2014.
The four Israelis were the first civilians to died when over 600 rockets were fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip.
As Israel issued counterstrikes several Palestinian death tolls rose to 25
The violence comes ahead of a busy time in the region, with the televised singing contest Eurovision expected to draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to Tel Aviv and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which begins Monday.
Palestinian officials say a ceasefire agreement has been reached with Israel to end a surge of violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel that has led to the deaths of at least 25 Palestinians and four Israelis.
Gaza officials confirmed that a deal was reached at 1:30 GMT, and no Israeli air raids on the Palestinian territory have been reported since the deal came into effect.
Israel launched airstrikes Friday after two Israeli soldiers were wounded by sniper fire along the Gaza border.
Two other Palestinians died in Gaza Friday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with both men succumbing to their wounds after being shot by Israeli troops during protests along the Gaza fence, according to health officials.
Eight of the dead in Gaza are members of the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the Quds Brigade, according to an Islamic Jihad spokesman.
Another of those killed was targeted deliberately — the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Hamid Ahmed Abdul Khudri, 34, was responsible for money transfers from Iran to militant groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas inside Gaza.
Health officials in Gaza also say that two infants, a 12-year old boy, and two pregnant women have been killed.
There is a dispute over the cause of the deaths of one of the infants and one of the pregnant women — Gaza health officials say both died in an Israeli airstrike, while the Israeli military says they were killed when a militant rocket misfired on launch
In Israel, a 58-year-old man was killed by rocket fire in Ashkelon overnight Saturday into Sunday, according to Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon. A 50-year-old Israeli man was killed when his car was hit by a Kornet anti-tank missile near Sderot on Sunday afternoon, according to emergency response services.
A foreign worker was killed by a rocket that landed on a factory in Ashkelon on Sunday according to Barzilai hospital. A fourth man was killed when a rocket struck a car next to him in Ashdod on Sunday evening, according to ZAKA, an emergency volunteer response service.
Turkey has condemned a strike on a building housing the office of its state-run Anadolu news agency, a building which Israel says is also used by Hamas’s military intelligence.
Israel announced that it is closing the two border crossings between Israel and Gaza, as well as closing the Gaza fishing zone.
Saturday’s rocket barrage came less than a day after two militants from Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in an Israeli strike on Hamas posts in Gaza.
This is the first serious escalation between Israel and Gaza militants since the Israeli election almost a month ago.
