World

Hamas accepts cease-fire after massive Israeli Gaza strikes

21 of July 2018

Protesters try to throw back teargas canisters fired by Israeli troops near the fence of the Gaza Strip border with Israel, during a protest east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 20, 2018. Israel targeted Hamas positions in Gaza, killing four Palestinians on Friday in a series of air strikes after gunmen shot at soldiers near the border, officials said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana),Protesters try to throw back teargas canisters fired by Israeli troops near the fence of the Gaza Strip border with Israel, during a protest east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 20, 2018. Israel targeted Hamas positions in Gaza, killing four Palestinians on Friday in a series of air strikes after gunmen shot at soldiers near the border, officials said. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers say they have accepted a cease-fire ending an Israeli onslaught on militant positions after a soldier was shot dead.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says it accepted the cease-fire brokered by Egyptian and United Nations officials early Saturday and that calm had been restored.

The Israeli military destroyed more than 60 Hamas targets Friday, including three battalion headquarters. The massive airstrikes, which killed four Palestinians, came after a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli soldier along the border.

Hamas says three of the Palestinian casualties were its members.

The second such cease-fire in a week after fierce exchanges seemed to once more pull the sides back from the brink of a full-fledged war. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars over the past decade.