Egyptian mediators have proposed a Gaza truce that would take effect on Sunday, an Egyptian security source said, while a Palestinian official said the ceasefire will begin at 8pm local time.
Israel confirmed it was holding talks to end days of fighting with Islamic Jihad militants through Egyptian mediators.
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Prime Minister Yair Lapid during a Cabinet meeting in the IDF HQ in Tel Aviv
(Photo: GPO)
Israel's cabinet agreed late Saturday that the military operation against the terrorist group Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian enclave had achieved its goals and Jerusalem was seeking to reach a ceasefire, according to a source that was present at the meeting in the IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The source said Israel would like the operation to end within hours, but fighting is expected to continue for several more days, if not longer.
Defense officials said in the meeting that Israel managed to drive a wedge between Islamic Jihad and Hamas, as the Gaza rulers opt to largely stay out of the conflict.
According to the source, while most Cabinet ministers fully supported the operation, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz called to stop the operation immediately and unilaterally, warning a prolonged conflict would increase the chances of casualties on the Israeli side.
Arabic-language news channel Al Arabiya reported that Cairo was turning the screws on Israel and Islamic Jihad to accept a mutual ceasefire.
Meanwhile, an Islamic Jihad spokesperson told Al Jazeera that the organization had received many inquiries regarding the end of the fighting, but nothing had so far materialized.
Earlier, a Hamas spokesperson said that Islamic Jihad rejected the Egyptians' offer of a humanitarian ceasefire.
After news of the talks were published, Gaza militants continued to launch barrages of rockets into Israel, reaching as far as Rishon Lezion in the country's center.
Be'er Sheva was also targeted for the first time since fighting began over the weekend. There were no reports of injuries.
Sunday morning, a residential home took a direct hit from a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, Eshkol Regional Council in southern Israel said as cross-border violence with Gaza Strip militants entered its fourth day.
The family living there hid in the bomb shelter and were unharmed. The building sustained minor damage.
Homeowner Keren Peleg told Ynet it was one of the heaviest volleys she had experienced in her 12 years living in the quiet southern community.
A short distance from there, two rockets crashed in Kibbutz Nirim — one near the community's back entry gate and the other near a migrant worker dormitory.
There were no reports of injuries or material damage.
Earlier, shrapnel from a Gaza rocket that was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system fell in the yard of a house in the city of Sderot. Police sappers were deployed to the scene. The property sustained very minor damage.
Another rocket landed outside a factory n the city. There were no reports of material damage or injuries.
Air raid sirens sounded on the western outskirts of Jerusalem Sunday morning after a barrage of rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip toward the capital for the first time since Israel launched its military campaign against the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The IDF announced Saturday night it assassinated Khaled Mansour, the head of PIJ's southern command, and his deputy Ahmed al-Madlal alongside PIJ Rafah Brigade commander Hitab Amassi in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.
PIJ confirmed Mansour's killing Sunday morning shortly before the attack and vowed that "his blood will ignite the campaign to defend Jerusalem" as tensions around the capital are expected to run high on Sunday due to Tisha B'Av — a day marking the destruction of both ancient Jewish temples.
"The Zionist aggression in the city of Rafah killed him... Khaled Mansour's blood will ignite the campaign to defend Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque, to which settlers will break in today," the group said in a statement.
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav said Mansour held a parallel position to Tayseer Jabari, the head of the terror group's northern command who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on Friday, sparking the current military campaign in the Palestinian enclave, dubbed Operation Breaking Dawn.
Late Saturday, the Palestinians reported that at least six children were killed and 15 people injured in a separate attack on the city of Jabalia in central Gaza.
The Israeli military on Sunday published footage it says shows a failed rocket launch attempt by Islamic Jihad militants that hit a residential home in the northern Gaza city.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces arrested some 20 Islamic Jihad operatives across the West Bank overnight Sunday as Jerusalem seeks to expand the military operation to other arms of the terror outfit.
According to IDF, as of Sunday 6:30am, the military has carried out 140 strikes against Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, ten military posts, ten rocket launch pads and eight attempted attacks thwarted in real-time, as well as six arms depots.
Since the outset of fighting, Islamic Jihad has fired more than 580 rockets into Israel, only 480 of which crashed on Israeli soil, the rest fell short within Gaza. The Iron Dome missile defense system has intercepted more than 200 rockets with a 96% success rate.
First published: 14:12, 08.07.22