A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas took effect early Friday morning, hours after both sides agreed to end more than 10 days of fighting that had claimed hundreds of lives.More than 4,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza since May 10, killing 12 people, mostly civilians.
The Hamas media office estimated the bombardments had caused $40 million in damage to factories and the strip’s industrial zone and other industrial facilities, in addition to $22 million in damage to the energy sector. Where as Gaza’s agriculture ministry estimated around $27 million in damage that included greenhouses, agricultural lands and poultry farms.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Thursday evening that his security cabinet had voted unanimously to accept the Egyptian proposal, and officials of Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza, confirmed that it, too, had accepted. But each side cautioned that its compliance could depend on the other’s actions.
In a broadcast address from the White House, President Biden lamented “the tragic deaths of so many civilians, including children,” and lauded Israeli and Egyptian officials. Noting that he had spoken with Mr. Netanyahu six times during the crisis, he said, “I commend him for the decision to bring the current hostilities to a close in less than 11 days.”
