Israel, Islamic Jihad, say Gaza ceasefire agreement reached

Announcing the truce, a brief statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office thanked Egypt for its mediation efforts, but warned if it was violated, “the State of Israel maintains the right to respond strongly.”The announcement, which followed shortly after one from Islamic Jihad, came about 50 hours after the escalation began, when Israel had launched what it called preemptive strikes on Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. At least 44 civilians and militants were killed in the escalation, according to information from Palestinian officials, and among them were 15 children.Terms of the agreement were not immediately made public. However, Egypt’s official state news agency reported that in the push for a truce, Cairo was working to see the release of an Islamic Jihad militant captured by Israel six days ago, as well as ensure a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike in an Israeli jail would be transferred to a hospital for medical treatment. Previous ceasefire agreements have reportedly seen Israel making commitments to ease its closure of Gaza.Rockets launched toward JerusalemEarlier Sunday, Palestinian militants launched rockets toward Jerusalem, after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza overnight killed a senior militant commander — the second since Israel’s Al-Nakhalah also spoke Saturday with the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, who praised “the swift response of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance” to the Israeli military operation, saying it “proves that a new era has begun for the resistance to take power,” according to a report by Iran’s Fars News Agency.Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid drew attention to Al-Nakhalah’s Iran visit when he spoke Friday about the campaign in Gaza.”Our fight is not with the people of Gaza. Islamic Jihad is an Iranian proxy that wants to destroy the State of Israel and kill innocent Israelis. The head of Islamic Jihad is in Tehran as we speak. We will do whatever it takes to defend our people,” Lapid said.CNN’s Abeer Salman and Andrew Carey reported from Jerusalem and Ibrahim Dahman reported from Gaza. CNN’s Hadas Gold and Elliott Gotkine in Ashdod contributed to this report.