Palestinian factions, Israeli occupation agree on ceasefire in Gaza strip

SANAA, July 21(YPA)- Palestinian factions in Gaza strip and the Israeli occupation forces agreed to a ceasefire which came into effect on Saturday after five people including an Israeli soldier were killed on Friday, a spokesman for the Palestinian party said.

Hamas Islamic movement announced on Saturday that it would return to the truce with the Israeli occupation after hours of escalation in the Gaza Strip.

“With Egyptian and UN efforts, a ceasefire between the occupation and the Palestinian factions has been reached,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a tweet.

A diplomatic source told the Hebrew website “WALA” that UN envoy Nikolay Mladenov made great efforts at the highest level to stop the escalation in the Gaza Strip.

“We believe we have succeeded in returning to a truce in Gaza,” the source said.

Al-Jazeera confirmed that the Palestinian factions had agreed to calm down escalation in Gaza starting at midnight.

E.M