UK welcomes cease-fire in Israel, Gaza

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) - Britain said late Thursday that it welcomes a cease-fire in Israel and Gaza.

“Welcome news of a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab wrote on Twitter. “All sides must work to make the ceasefire durable and end the unacceptable cycle of violence and loss of civilian life.”

“UK continues to support efforts to bring about peace,” he added.

Israel agreed to a cease-fire with Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza, Israeli media and Hamas officials confirmed late Thursday.

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire will go into effect at 2 a.m. Friday (2300GMT Thursday), according to Hamas and Israeli sources.

At least 232 Palestinians have been killed, including 65 children and 39 women, and more than 1,700 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since May 10, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. Health centers, media offices and residential neighborhoods have been targeted.

Recent tensions that started in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan spread to Gaza as a result of Israeli assaults on worshippers in the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 1980 it annexed the entire city, a move never recognized by the international community.