Cease-fire reached in Gaza after spike in violence

By Nour Abu Eisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A cease-fire was reached in Gaza on Thursday following two days of bloody Israeli escalation.

The Islamic Jihad group said it will hold fire after Israel agreed to an Egyptian-mediated truce.

Musab Al-Braim, the Islamic Jihad group's spokesman, told Anadolu Agency that a cease-fire has been reached in Gaza that came into effect at 5:00 a.m. local time (0300GMT).

Al-Braim said that based "on implementing the demands of the Palestinian resistance groups, the Islamic Jihad accepted the cease-fire" with Israel.

"The cease-fire began under Egyptian sponsorship after the Occupation [Israel] submitted to the conditions set by Islamic Jihad on behalf of Palestinian resistance factions," Al-Braim added.

An Israeli military spokesman also confirmed the cease-fire.

"The cease-fire came into effect [...] after a painful blow to the Islamic Jihad," Avichai Adraee, Israeli army spokesman, said in a statement.

The escalation left 34 Palestinians dead and more than 110 injured.

The military escalation started after Israel assassinated a prominent Islamic Jihad commander Bahaa Abu al-Atta. The Palestinian resistance groups fired hundreds of rockets in response to the Israeli escalation.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara