On Thursday night, Israel’s security cabinet voted unanimously in favor of a ceasefire to end the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza that has been raging since last Monday.
The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and is set to take effect early Friday morning. A Hamas official told Reuters that Israel and Hamas will enter a “mutual and simultaneous” Gaza truce at 2 am on Friday.
According to Ynet, one Israeli official said the truce was an agreement on “quiet in exchange for quiet.” Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya reported that Egypt was sending monitors to Gaza.
Israeli airstrikes continued to pound Gaza throughout Thursday. After 11 days of Israeli air raids in Gaza, at least 232 Palestinians have been killed, including 65 children. Many residential buildings were also destroyed in the campaign. In Israel, at least 12 people have been killed by rockets fired out of Gaza, including two children.
News of Israel approving the ceasefire came a day after President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called for a “de-escalation.” Netanyahu appeared to reject Biden’s comments after the conversation and said he was “determined to continue” the Gaza operation. But now, it seems the campaign will wind down.
Israel had rejected an earlier truce offer from Hamas that was made last week through the Russian foreign ministry after only two days of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
This article was originally featured on Antiwar.com and is republished with permission.
