BICOM

Hamas accepted a cease-fire on Saturday after Israel attacked many of its military positions in response to an Israeli soldier being killed on the Gaza border on Friday.

IDF Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi was killed by Palestinian sniper fire on Friday afternoon, the first Israeli fatality near Gaza since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. He was wearing a bulletproof vest when hit in the chest by a Hamas sniper. An initial investigation found that he was shot with an armour-piercing bullet fired from an Iranian-manufactured rifle.

In response, the Israel Air Force (IAF) launched air strikes on Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip. Eight military bases were bombed by IDF tanks and aircraft, including those of the Zaytun battalion in the northern Gaza Strip, the Khan Yunis battalion in the southern Gaza Strip and the Bureij battalion in the central Gaza Strip. The IAF then targeted 60 additional facilities, such as weapons depots, training facilities, observation posts, command centres and control posts. Four Hamas operatives were reportedly killed in the attack.

In an effort to deescalate the situation Egypt, Qatar and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, began intensive mediation efforts. Hamas likely believed that the IDF was about to launch a wider military operation so agreed to a ceasefire and committed to put a stop to flying firebombs being launched from Gaza towards Israel.

An Israeli official said on Sunday: “Hamas was dealt a painful blow yesterday and asked for a cease-fire via the Egyptians, while committing to stop the fire terrorism and its fence terrorism.”

Five flying firebombs were launched into Israel yesterday but no fires were reported. The IAF responded with an attack on a Hamas terror cell that launched the firebombs and a number of Palestinians were reported to have been injured.

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “If the situation today and tomorrow continues as it was yesterday, then on Tuesday, we will restore the Kerem Shalom crossing to its usual format. But the key is quiet, calm, zero incendiary balloons, zero friction and zero rockets or, God forbid, shooting.”