Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire.
The ceasefire has already come into effect and follows 11 days of violence in the Gaza strip.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli airstrikes carried out by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children. Hamas attacks on Israel claimed the lives of at least 12 people, including two children.
“The Security Cabinet convened this evening. And accepted unanimously the recommendation of all security elements,” the statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reads.
The statement says the ceasefire received the green light from the Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, the Head of the Mossad, and the head of the National Security Council.
All agreed “to accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual unconditional ceasefire that will go into effect at an hour to be agreed upon later.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi thanked President Joe Biden for his part in brokering the ceasefire between both Israel and Palestine.
Before news of the truce made hit the headlines, Biden attributed his administration’s own “quiet and relentless diplomacy,” to ending the conflict.
“We’ve held intensive high-level discussions, hour-by-hour, literally, (with) Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and other Middle Eastern countries with an aim of avoiding the sort of prolonged conflict we’ve seen in previous years when the hostilities have broken out,” Biden said from the White House.
The president noted, “These hostilities have resulted in the tragic deaths of so many civilians, including children. I send my sincere condolences to all the families, Israeli and Palestinian, who have lost loved ones. And my hope for a full recovery for the wounded.”
Originally posted 2021-05-21 09:00:00.
