After five days of fighting that left 33 Palestinians dead and two Israelis injured, a fragile ceasefire seems to have been reached between Israeli forces in Gaza and militants.

In response to rockets fired from Gaza, Israeli jets have killed three Islamic Jihad militants. This is the longest battle since the 10-day war of 2021.

The Iranian-backed group responded by firing more than 1,000 missiles. This caused Israelis to flee into bomb shelters. Schools were still closed in southern Israel, around Gaza. Thousands of residents had not returned to their homes after being evacuated.

Palestinian officials reported that 33 people were killed, including children and women, as well as Islamic Jihad militants. Rockets killed an Israeli woman, as well as a Palestinian worker in Israel.

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Israel has now reopened the commercial and goods border crossings. Fuel can now flow into Gaza’s lone power station. The shops and public offices are now open, and people have returned to streets that were deserted days ago.

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A senior Islamic Jihad leader was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza, according to militant group

Gaza fires 600 rockets within 48 hours, killing one and wounding five

In the latest violence, more than 200 rockets were fired by Gaza at Israel.

Both sides have confirmed their commitments to the ceasefire, brokered by Egypt. Israel, however, has not stated that it will stop the targeted killings against Palestinian militant leaders.

Mohammad al Hindi said that the Islamic Jihad, which was a key official in the Cairo ceasefire negotiations, was willing to halt rocket launch in exchange for Israel agreeing to stop attacking houses, civilians and militant leaders.

He said, “We will adhere to the agreement so long as our enemy does.”

Israel denies that it has made such commitments.

Benjamin Netanyahu said at his weekly cabinet meeting, in Jerusalem, that anyone who strikes us, or tries, or tries in the future to strike us will be punished.

In a televised statement, he did not mention a ceasefire. Instead, he stated that Israeli forces “had successfully concluded five days of combating the Islamic Jihad terrorists group.”

Hamas – the islamist group which controls Gaza – did not participate in the fighting, and Israeli officials confirmed that their airstrikes did not target the infrastructure of Hamas or its leaders. Uncertainty remained about how long the latest ceasefire would last.