CNN
The aftermath of a rocket strike on Bet Lahiya on May 13, 2023.
(CNN) — Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a ceasefire, according to Egyptian diplomats in Gaza.
The ceasefire is set to take effect at 10 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET), Egypt’s Gaza commission said.
There are “good chances” of a ceasefire with Islamic Jihad, an Israeli official told CNN. The official asked not to be named citing diplomatic negotiations.
Sirens were sounded at least seven times in Israeli areas near the Gaza Strip Saturday night, and the Israel Defense Forces launched additional airstrikes on targets in Gaza, minutes before the ceasefire was to be implemented.
At least a few rockets were intercepted by Israeli air defenses, live photos showed.
The word of agreement almost ended a day of intense fighting.
A rocket fired from Gaza killed a Palestinian man working in Israel and seriously injured another, Israeli medical authorities said Saturday, as cross-border fire showed little signs of decline.
The two men were working in the Negev desert in southern Israel and were hit by shrapnel.
The spokesperson of the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht tweeted on Saturday that the two men are brothers.
The Palestinian man who died is the second Israeli death due to rocket fire from Gaza since the fighting broke out on Tuesday morning. The fighting claimed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza.
CNN
Cross-border fires show little sign of abating.
The incident occurred as the Israeli military struck targets in Gaza on Saturday while Palestinian militants fired several rockets.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it launched a series of attacks on sites it said belonged to Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has accused the group of planning attacks and since the flare-up began on Tuesday has killed six of its commanders. Islamic Jihad is the second largest armed group in Gaza after Hamas.
More than 1,000 rockets were launched by Israel, the IDF said, hitting more than 250 targets in Gaza as part of its “Shield and Arrow” campaign, now in its fifth day.
Videos from Gaza showed that airstrikes also appeared to hit at least two civilian homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, but no injuries were reported.
Asked about the latest strikes by CNN, the IDF said that in the past 24 hours, they have struck operational shelters used as headquarters and command and control centers for Jihad terrorists.
In its statement, the military said that IDF fighter jets and aircraft hit launch sites for mortar shells and rockets “used by Islamic Jihad to fire projectiles into Israel in the past few days.”
Sirens sounded in Israeli areas near the region on Saturday, as Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued to fire rockets.
CNN
CNN video of smoke rising in Gaza.
Clashes also took place on Saturday morning in the occupied West Bank and at least two Palestinian men were killed, Palestinian officials said.
Sa’ed Jihad Shaker Mashah, 32, and Adnan Waseem Yousef Al-Araj, 19, were shot in the head with live ammunition, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. At least three other people were injured, the ministry said.
The fighting took place in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet security agency said that IDF and Israel Border Police forces raided “a hideout belonging to terrorist operatives” in the camp.
On Friday, as the al Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad began an operation called “Revenge of the Free,” Palestinian militants launched rockets toward Jerusalem for the first time, as well as Tel Aviv and Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank.
Talks to broker a ceasefire between the warring factions are “on ice right now,” a diplomatic source familiar with the negotiations told CNN on Friday.
