A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement has come into effect after three days of Israeli aggression which left at least 43 people dead.
The PIJ affirmed the truce will begin at 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT) after talks mediated by Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office also declared the ceasefire.
In a press conference held in Tehran the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement Ziyad Al-Nakhala had confirmed the truce but he added that it too “reserves the right to respond” to any aggression.
Al-Nakhala said the ceasefire deal “contains Egypt’s commitment to work towards the release of two prisoners”.
The pair were named as Bassam al-Saadi a senior figure in the group’s political wing who was recently arrested in the occupied West Bank and the hunger striker Khalil Awawdeh.
Since Friday Israel has carried out heavy aerial and artillery bombardment of besieged Gaza with Islamic Jihad fighters firing hundreds of rockets in retaliation.
Gaza’s health ministry on Sunday evening said the death toll rose to 43 including 15 children with more than 300 people wounded in the Palestinian enclave.
Two Israelis have been injured by shrapnel over the same period medics reported.
