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This is the deadliest sequence since clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians who killed about 60 people on 14 May 2018 in Gaza. AFP / BASHAR TALEB

A ceasefire agreement came into force on Thursday, November 14, at 05:30 local time (03:30 UT) in the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian source told AFP by mediation and a senior official of Islamic Jihad .

This " ceasefire agreement comes as a result of Egypt's efforts " and has been endorsed by " Palestinian factions including Islamic Jihad, " a senior Egyptian official said. According to the official, the agreement stipulates that Palestinian factions must also ensure a return to calm in Gaza and " keep the peace " during demonstrations. Israel, for its part, must also stop hostilities and " ensure a cease-fire " during demonstrations by Palestinians.

A source in Islamic Jihad says it has confirmed the agreement to AFP. An Israeli military official told AFP on Wednesday night that the Israeli army would end its operation in Gaza if Islamic Jihad stopped firing rockets into Israel. Earlier, six members of a Palestinian family were killed in an Israeli strike targeting elements of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Thirty-two dead

These new deaths bring to 32 the number of deaths in Gaza in Israeli strikes targeting since Tuesday, November 12 not Hamas, but another local armed Islamist group, Islamic Jihad, according to the latest record of this ministry. The Israeli army accuses the Islamic Jihad in particular of using human shields to protect itself from strikes and says it uses cutting-edge techniques to minimize losses among the civilian population.

This sequence is the deadliest since clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians who made about sixty dead on May 14, 2018 in Gaza, the day of the inauguration in Jerusalem of the American embassy. This decision endorsed the United States' recognition of this disputed city as the capital of Israel.

( with AFP )

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