By Waziri Mahdi Isa
Early on May 21, 2021, the Palestinians pour to the street in celebration of the recently announced ceasefire unilaterally declared by Israel and accepted by the Palestinian resistance group in Gaza.
Israel on Thursday declared a unilateral ceasefire starting at 2 a.m. on Friday, and the Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza accepted it.
The Israeli public broadcaster, Kan mentioned that the Israeli security cabinet met earlier to discuss a unilateral ceasefire to come into effect on Friday.
The ceasefire came after the 11 day bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli forces and the retaliatory attacks launched by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.
The fire exchange which was first triggered on May 10 as a result of a violent attack on the Palestinians by the joint Israeli forces and the Israel settlers at Al-Aqsa mosque and Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of Jerusalem Al-Quds where the regime tried to force Palestinians out of their homes to build more illegal settlements, came to an end following the mediation by Egypt in an effort to bring an end to the crisis.
The recent onslaught claim the lives of 243 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip leaving hundreds injured, with some 12 people killed on the side of the Israelis with several injuries.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan stated that the resistance groups have been guaranteed by the Egyptian mediators that the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem Al-Quds and al-Aqsa mosque – the issues that triggered the fighting – would stop.
“The resistance has forged a new equation and a new victory,” Osama Hamdan said.
After the announcement of the ceasefire, a senior Hamas figure said in a speech to thousands of people celebrating in Gaza that the ceasefire was a victory against the Israeli regime.
“This is the euphoria of victory,” said Khalil al-Hayya, the second most senior member of the Hamas political bureau in the Gaza Strip.
Hayya also promised to reconstruct homes destroyed by Israeli air raids.
However, an Israeli politician, Gideon Sa’ar slams the ceasefire as “embarrassing”.
“With the best intelligence and air force in the world, Netanyahu managed to extract from Hamas an ‘unconditional ceasefire’ — embarrassing,” Sa’ar tweeted.
Another Hamas official told Reuters that Israel must compensate for the damage caused by its bombardment of Gaza and end its violations in Jerusalem al-Quds.
“It is true the battle ends today but Netanyahu and the whole world should know that our hands are on the trigger and we will continue to grow the capabilities of this resistance,” said Ezzat El-Reshiq, a member of the Hamas political bureau as reported by PressTV.