Cease-fire between Israel and militants in Gaza appears to be holding

A fragile ceasefire between Israeli forces and militants in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding on Sunday after a fiveday clash that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in IsraelThe latest round of Gaza fighting was sparked on Tuesday when Israeli jets killed three top commanders from the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to earlier rocket launches from GazaThose killings set off a barrage of militant fire and the conflagration threatened to drag the region into another allout war until an Egyptianbrokered ceasefire took hold late SaturdayWhile the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gazas 2 million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days the agreement did nothing to address the underlying issues that have fuelled numerous rounds of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip over the yearsIn Gaza residents surveyed the latest damage caused to their surroundings with gaping holes left in the apartments serving as what Israel said were hideouts for the six senior Islamic Jihad members killed during this round Gazas main cargo crossing with Israel was set to reopen Sunday after warnings that keeping it closed would force Gazas sole power plant to shut down deepening a power crisisIsrael lifted most restrictions on residents in southern Israel which had borne the brunt of the rocket fire Israeli officials have expressed satisfaction with the latest battle having eliminated many of Islamic Jihads top brass in what it says were pinpointed strikes based on solid intelligence But at least 13 of those killed in Gaza were civilians among them children as young as 4 years old as well as womenIsrael has faced criticism in the past from rights groups over the civilian casualties in its bombardments in Gaza Israel says it does its utmost to avoid harming civilians in its strikes and says militants operate from within the territorys densely populated areas to fire rockets indiscriminately at Israeli communitiesThroughout the fighting Israels repeated airstrikes targeting Islamic Jihad and its command centres and rocketlaunching sites showed no signs of stopping the rocket fire prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory and sending cheering Palestinians out into the streets late SaturdayAlso readIsraeli airstrikes on Gaza strip continue as hopes for a ceasefire growIsrael reported over 1200 launches throughout the fighting with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas Israel said about a quarter of the rockets were misfired and landed in Gaza while most of the rest were either intercepted or landed in open areasBut an 80yearold woman and a Palestinian labourer who was working inside Israel were killed by rocket fire A Palestinian human rights group said three people including two children were killed in Gaza by errant rocketsIt was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the seaside territory in 2007 Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and there have been numerous smaller flareups as wellThe more powerful Hamas has praised Islamic Jihads strikes but remained on the sidelines during the latest round of fighting limiting the scope of the conflict As the de facto government held responsible for the abysmal conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip Hamas has recently tried to keep a lid on its conflict with IsraelIslamic Jihad on the other hand a more ideological and unruly militant group wedded to violence has taken the lead in the past few rounds of fighting with IsraelSaturdays deal did not address many of the causes of the repeated fighting including Israels ongoing blockade of Gaza the large arsenals of weapons possessed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad and Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east JerusalemIsrael captured the West Bank east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 but Hamas subsequently overran the territory and expelled forces loyal to the internationally recognised Palestinian AuthorityIsrael and Egypt have maintained a blockade over Gaza in what Israel says is a policy aimed at preventing Hamas from arming The Palestinians and international rights groups say the policy which restricts the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza amounts to collective punishmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever