Leaders in Israel and Gaza have reportedly reached a ceasefire agreement after an intense three days of fighting left 25 Palestinians and four Israelis dead. The latest round of violence began on Friday. According to The Washington Post, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian protesters taking part in the Great March of Return protests, which have been taking place every Friday for the past 13 months. Palestinians then reportedly shot and wounded two Israeli soldiers near the border. Israel then carried out an airstrike on a refugee camp, killing two Palestinian militants. The heaviest combat took place on Saturday and Sunday as militants in Gaza fired about 700 rockets into Israel, while Israel launched airstrikes on over 350 targets inside Gaza. Palestinian authorities said the dead in Gaza included two pregnant women, a 12-year-old boy and a 14-month-old girl. This is the father of the killed infant speaking at her burial.
Mahmoud Abu Arar: “The children were playing. They were struck by a missile shot from a drone; Israeli bombardment of a missile, shot from a drone, struck them.”
The weekend has been described as the heaviest combat in the region since the 2014 Israeli assault on Gaza. We’ll have more on the situation in Gaza after headlines.