JERUSALEM -- A tentative cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip appeared to have taken hold Monday morning, bringing a short but deadly bout of cross-border fighting to an end as abruptly as it had started. At least 22 Palestinians, including militants and children, were killed in Gaza over the weekend and four Israeli civilians died in the fighting.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the Gaza groups that fired about 600 projectiles at southern Israel on Saturday and Sunday, had indicated a readiness to restore the fragile truce that went into effect nearly five years ago but has been interrupted repeatedly by violence. A Hamas-run television channel reported in the early hours of Monday that a new cease-fire had been reached and would take effect at 4:30 a.m.
According to Arab news reports, the understanding was brokered by Egypt and the United Nations, and includes measures to ease the acute economic crisis in the impoverished Gaza Strip, home to 2 million people. It came with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At least nine militants and as many Palestinian civilians, including two children, were killed by Israeli forces Sunday alone, according to Health Ministry officials in the Hamas-run coastal territory. It was the worst violence between the two sides since a 50-day war in 2014.
The Israeli military said it had struck 350 militant targets over the weekend. It resumed wartime tactics that included the targeted assassination of individuals and bombing multistory buildings it said were used for military purposes. The Israeli military said it targeted a 34-year-old man who worked in a money exchange office and was responsible for channeling Iranian funds to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. An airstrike hit his car on a busy street in Gaza City on Sunday.
The Israeli government did not overtly confirm a renewed cease-fire, as is customary in such situations, with officials reluctant to go public about understandings or agreements with groups that Israel classifies as terrorist organizations.
But in an acknowledgment of the restoration of calm, the Israeli military announced the lifting, from 7 a.m., of all restrictions on public gatherings in communities within a 25-mile radius of Gaza. Roads in the vicinity of the border and most schools reopened.
Then, in a statement issued about 11 a.m., Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alluded to the end of this round of battle, if not the general state of war.
"Over the last two days, we struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad with great force," he said. "We hit over 350 targets. We struck at terrorist leaders and operatives and we destroyed terrorist buildings. The campaign is not over, and it demands patience and sagacity. We are prepared to continue. The goal has been -- and remains -- ensuring quiet and security for the residents of the south. I send condolences to the families and best wishes for recovery to the wounded."
Later Monday, Netanyahu said that he had given instructions to maintain the additional artillery and armored forces deployed along the Gaza border.
Israeli commentators said that Israel had also been eager to cut short the fighting, with Memorial Day and Independence Day celebrations coming this week, and a stream of international singers arriving to compete in the Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv this month. In hosting the international contest, Israel intends to showcase itself as a tourist destination.
The exact terms of the cease-fire were not publicized, but in the past they have included measures like an extension of the fishing zone off the Gaza coast in the Mediterranean waters controlled by Israel, assurances for the smooth transfer of Qatari money into the territory and other measures to ease the blockade imposed by Israel, with Egypt's help. Both countries restrict the movement of people and goods in and out of the enclave, citing security grounds and the need to stop weapons smuggling.
The Hamas-run Ministry for Public Works in Gaza said 130 housing units in Gaza were destroyed in the two days of strikes.
"We feel very weak after two days of fear," said Wael Hanoush, a 39-year-old businessman in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip. "Today this round ends and we do not know when it will start again."
Fatima Ayoub, 44, said she'd fled her home after a missile hit next door, blowing out her windows. "We want a strong resistance and freedom of movement," she said. "But we can't live this way."
But others felt that Hamas had scored a win.
"Yes we lose a lot of money and lives," said 23-year-old Ahmed Massoud, but factions in Gaza had "resisted the occupier with honor," he said. Israel "only understands the language of force," he said.
In weary communities in southern Israel, there was criticism that the latest round of fighting had ended without tangible results -- and no hope that it would not recur soon.
"When we have the upper hand, we need once and for all to finish the terror because this will repeat itself and will not stop," said Jacque Mendel, a resident of the coastal city of Ashdod, where a man was killed in his car by a rocket Sunday night.
Near the explosion-scarred house of Moshe Agadi, 58, who became the first Israeli since 2014 to die in rocket fire from Gaza, mothers took their children to play in a park after 48 hours of sheltering indoors.
"Israel needs to stop this once and for all," said Inna Kraysberg, 34, as her two young children played on a nearby slide. "We can't just let them carry on and lie down for them to kill us. Hamas decides when it starts and when it stops."
Even within his own ruling Likud Party, Netanyahu faced unusual criticism for not going further to quash Gaza militants.
Likud lawmaker Gideon Saar wrote on Twitter that the reported cease-fire was not an achievement for Israel. "The timeframes between these violent attacks on Israel and its citizens are getting shorter and the terror groups in Gaza are getting stronger between them," he wrote.
Benny Gantz, Israel's emerging opposition leader, also criticized Netanyahu, saying that ending the current round amounted to "another surrender to the extortion of Hamas and the terror organizations."
This latest round of fighting appeared to have been set off by events Friday, when two Israeli soldiers were wounded by a Gaza sniper and four Palestinians were killed.
Two of the Palestinians were shot by Israeli forces during a weekly protest along the fence dividing the territory from Israel, according to Gaza health officials. The others, who were identified as Hamas militants, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in retaliation for the sniper attack. Starting Saturday morning, Hamas and Islamic Jihad unleashed an unusually heavy barrage of rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel.
Information for this article was contributed by Isabel Kershner of The New York Times; by Aron Heller and Fares Akram of The Associated Press; and by Loveday Morris, Ruth Eglash and Hazem Balousha of The Washington Post.
A Section on 05/07/2019