Gaza celebrates as ceasefire with Israel takes effect

A cease-fire in Israel-Gaza hostilities brokered by Egypt went into effect Wednesday night, but not before last-minute exchanges of volleys between Israeli forces and Hamas militants who run the Palestinian enclave.

Many Palestinians in Gaza City took to the streets to celebrate the truce on Wednesday night, blasting car horns and setting off fireworks from rooftops amid celebratory gunfire.

The UN Security Council has called on Israel and Hamas to uphold the agreement, brokered by Egypt.

Overnight, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it had arrested 55 “terror operatives” in the West Bank, including some at a senior level, in an effort to “restore calm”.

There have been a number of protests in the West Bank in the past week against Israel’s Pillar of Defence operation, with some protesters clashing with Israeli soldiers.

Five Israelis and more than 150 Palestinians have died since the outbreak of violence began last week.

The Egyptian foreign minister announced the ceasefire agreement hours before it took hold at 19:00 GMT on Wednesday.

Mohamed Kamel Amr thanked all parties involved in brokering the truce as he made the announcement in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Clinton said she looked ahead to a more lasting solution.

“Ultimately, every step must move us toward a comprehensive peace for all the people of the region,” she said.

Under the ceasefire terms, Israel was to stop all aggression against the Gaza Strip from land, sea and air, including cross-border incursions and targeted killings.

Palestinian factions were to cease all rocket fire and attacks from Gaza towards Israel, including along the border.

Twenty-four hours after the ceasefire takes effect, Israel will also be committed to opening of all border crossings and ease restrictions on movements of people and goods in and out of the enclave.

Rockets fired

Within hours after the ceasefire was supposed to take hold, Israeli police said 12 rockets were fired from Gaza. Hamas denied that report, saying that no rockets had been after the ceasefire went into effect.

In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama for their efforts and said Israel would pursue a lasting, sustainable cease-fire. But he also reiterated that Israel would do what it must to defend its people.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also said Israel had achieved a majority of its objectives, destroying rockets, launch sites and Hamas bunkers. He also said Israel’s Iron Dome defense system had knocked down more than 500 of the rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza strip.

A White House statement said Obama commended the prime minister in the call “while reiterating that Israel maintains the right to defend itself.”

Iran’s president welcomed the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel but expressed reservations about its effectiveness, a Pakistani television station, which interviewed him on Thursday, reported.

“President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad said the cruelty in Gaza should unite Muslims. He said he welcomes the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, but he seems to not be very optimistic about the ceasefire,” a TV anchor for the station said.

Israel planes have pounded the Hamas-ruled Palestinian territory since last week, in a bid to end rocket attacks on its territory from Gaza. Civilian casualties on both sides had hardened positions.

Hamas had also put conditions on stepping back, including a lifting of the Israeli blockade of Gaza, something Israel has shown little sign of doing.

Still, the deal proved a welcome breakthrough in the region, appearing to have sidelined any Israeli plans for a ground invasion. Clinton praised her Egyptian counterparts for their efforts in steering the two sides toward a truce.

“Now that there is a cease-fire, I am looking forward to working with the foreign minister and others to move this process,” she said.

Egypt, with its Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and a peace treaty with Israel, has been well positioned to lead efforts to broker a Gaza deal and has been working with regional and international figures, including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to bring it about.​​

Before word of the truce came, attacks rocked both sides of the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Inside Israel, a bomb blast on a bus in central Tel Aviv injured at least 20 people on Wednesday, some seriously.

In Gaza City, news of the Tel Aviv attack met with approval from Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who called the bombing revenge for civilian deaths in Gaza in recent days.

“Hamas sends congratulations for this operation which occurred in Tel Aviv and confirms that this is the normal response for targeting the Daloo family and Palestinian women and children,” he said. “We will use all means to protect our Palestinian people whilst facing aggression which is targeting Palestinian women and children.”

New rounds of missile and air attacks rained down on Gaza following the Tel Aviv attack. Palestinians medics say so far Wednesday at least 10 people were killed, including a young boy.

Israel and Hamas have traded rocket fire since an Israeli missile killed Hamas’ military chief in Gaza City last week. Israel says the attack was a direct response to months of almost daily rocket fire into southern Israel from Gaza.

Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, a year after winning a decisive victory in general elections. Israel withdrew from the strip in 2005 but maintains a blockade around it.