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A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 7 May 2019
Gaza quiet after Israel, Hamas agree to cease-fire

By ARON HELLER fire.
FARES AKRAM The latest fighting broke
JERUSALEM (AP) — The Is- out after Palestinian mili-
raeli military lifted protec- tants accused Israel of not
tive restrictions on residents honoring an earlier cease-
in the south on Monday, fire deal from March and
while Gaza's ruling Hamas opened fire on soldiers on
militant group reported a the Israeli side of the Gaza
cease-fire deal had been frontier.
reached to end the dead- The terms of the latest deal
liest fighting between the were not known, but re-
two sides since a 2014 war. cent cease-fires have been
The escalation had killed short-lived.
25 on the Gaza side, both In weary communities
militants and civilians, while in southern Israel, there
on the Israeli side four civil- was criticism that the lat-
ians were killed by incom- est round of fighting had
ing fire. ended without tangible re-
The Islamic Jihad militant sults — and no hope that it
group, which Israel ac- would not recur soon.
cused of instigating the "When we have the upper
latest violence, confirmed hand, we need once and
that a "mutual and con- for all to finish the terror
current" truce had been An elderly Palestinian man walks next to the rubble of multi-story building was hit and destroyed because this will repeat it-
brokered by Egypt. Hamas on Sunday by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City, Monday, May. 6, 2019. self and will not stop," said
spokesman Hazem Qas- Associated Press Jacque Mendel, a resident
sem said Egyptian media- of the coastal city of Ash-
tors, along with officials bomb shelters as intense production facilities. war in 2014. One was killed dod, where a man was
from Qatar and the U.N., rocket fire pounded the It also deployed tanks and when his vehicle was hit by killed in his car by a rocket
helped reach the deal. He area. infantry forces to the Gaza a Kornet anti-tank missile Sunday night.
said Hamas could still use Israel and Hamas are bitter frontier, and put another near the Gaza border. Israel appears to have little
"different pressuring tools" enemies and have fought brigade on standby. A The Gaza public works min- appetite for another pro-
to get Israel to ease a crip- three wars and numer- Hamas commander alleg- istry said 130 housing units longed conflict. Later this
pling blockade of Gaza. ous smaller battles since edly involved in transferring were destroyed in Israeli air- week, the country marks
Israeli Prime Minister Benja- the Islamic militant group Iranian funds to the group strikes, including a five-story Memorial Day, one of the
min Netanyahu pointedly seized Gaza from Western- was killed in an airstrike, in building in the northern most solemn days of the
noted that "the campaign backed Palestinian forces an apparent return to Isra- Gaza Strip where six peo- year, followed by the fes-
is not over, and it requires in 2007. el's policy of targeting mili- ple, including a 12-year-old tive Independence Day.
patience and judgment." In the latest fighting, which tant leaders. boy and an infant, were Next week, Israel is to host
The intense fighting over erupted over the weekend, Palestinian medical officials killed. the popular Eurovision song
the past two days came Palestinian militants fired reported 25 deaths, includ- Egyptian mediators had contest, and the fighting
to a halt early Monday hundreds of rockets into Is- ing at least 10 militants as been working with the U.N. could have deterred visi-
and residents on both sides rael, while the Israeli military well as three women, two to broker a cease-fire. Un- tors.
went back to their daily responded with airstrikes on of them pregnant, and der past Egyptian-brokered Even within his own ruling
routines. Schools and roads some 350 militant targets in- two babies. The four Israeli deals, Israel has agreed Likud Party, Netanyahu
had been closed, and Is- side Gaza, including weap- civilians killed were the first to ease its joint blockade faced unusual criticism for
raelis had been urged to ons storage, attack tunnels Israeli fatalities from rocket of Gaza with Egypt in ex- not going further to quash
remain indoors and near and rocket launching and attacks since the 50-day change for a halt to rocket Gaza militants.q
Libyan commander urges troops to press fight to take Tripoli

By SAMY MAGDY cluding combatants and The U.N. has repeatedly
CAIRO (AP) — A Libyan civilians, according to the called for an end to the
army commander whose U.N. health agency. fighting. On Sunday, the
forces are advancing on The push was launched U.N. mission said a "one-
Tripoli is rallying his fighters by the self-styled Libyan week humanitarian truce"
on, despite U.N. calls for a National Army, led by would begin at 4 a.m. Mon-
weeklong cease-fire to co- Khalifa Hifer and based in day and called on all par-
incide with the start of the the country's east, which ties to cease military opera-
fasting month of Ramadan is seeking to take over the tions, including reconnais-
on Monday. city and defeat militias sance and mobilization.
The battle for the Libyan loosely allied to a U.N.- The truce would come as
capital, which erupted in supported government in many Muslims across the
early April, has threatened Tripoli. world begin observing the
to ignite a civil war on the The World Health Organi- fasting month of Ramadan.
scale of the 2011 uprising zation said Monday that But in released comments,
that toppled and killed along with the 432 killed, Hifter said Ramadan had
Libyans hold a demonstration at Martyrs' Square against mili- longtime dictator Moam- 2,069 people have been not been a reason to halt
tary operations by forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter in
Tripoli, Libya, Friday, May 3, 2019. mar Gadhafi. wounded. The fighting has previous battles when he
Associated Press The fighting has killed at also displaced more than took the eastern cities of
least 432 people so far, in- 50,000 people, WHO said. Benghazi and Derna.q