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Ceasefire after three days of violence leaves at least 43 dead in Gaza

palestine israel fighting
It is the biggest flare-up on the Gaza frontier for more than a year (Picture: EPA/REX/AFP)

At least 15 children are among 43 people killed in violence in Gaza as news of a ceasefire deal sparks some relief.

Fears of another war were heightened when Israel launched strikes on a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Friday.

Palestinian targets were pounded throughout the weekend, while militants fired rounds of rockets back.

Gaza officials say 43 Palestinians, almost half of them civilians, have been killed, while hundreds more have been wounded.

But it’s hoped further tragedy has been avoided for now as Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant agree to a truce.

It comes into effect at 11.30pm local time (8.30pm GMT), Islamic Jihad and a Palestinian official familiar with the ceasefire efforts said.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s office later confirmed the ceasefire, mediated by Egypt on Sunday.

The fighting marks the biggest flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year.

Palestinians gather on the rubble of houses at the scene where senior commander of Islamic Jihad militant group Khaled Mansour was killed in Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 7, 2022. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
Palestinians gather on the rubble of houses at the scene where a senior commander of Islamic Jihad militant group was killed (Picture: Reuters)
epa10110302 Palestinians bodies of the victims killed in Israeli airstrikes during funeral in Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 07 August 2022. According to Palestinian ministry of health, at least six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabaliya refugee camp a day earlier. A third day of tensions between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israeli forces continue on 07 August, as they exchange rocket attacks and airstrikes resulting in the death of at least 31 Palestinians and injury of 284 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli Army on 07 August announced that a second senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement Khaled Mansour, responsible of terrorist attacks against Israelis, was targeted and killed by IDF aircraft. EPA/HAITHAM IMAD
A funeral in the Jabaliya refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, 07 August 2022 (Picture: EPA)
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Nidal Alwaheidi/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock (13074940a) Relatives mourn for Khalil Abu Hamada, a young Palestinian killed in the night at the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Palestinians were killed during a series of Israeli airstrikes on multiple targets in the Gaza Strip including Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, announced that senior leader Tayseer al-Jabari was killed in the attacks. Palestinians mourn death following Israel-Palestinian Conflict in Gaza, Palestine - 7 Aug 2022
Relatives mourn for Khalil Abu Hamada, a young Palestinian killed in the night at the Jabalia refugee camp (Picture: Nidal Alwaheidi/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)
This picture shows a crater in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon following a rocket attack fired from Gaza, on August 7, 2022. - An Islamic Jihad source said that truce talks are taking place after three days of deadly fighting between the Gaza militants and Israel. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
A crater in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon following a rocket attack fired from Gaza (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas, which rules the strip, fought an 11-day war with Israel back in May 2021.

The group has resisted intervening in the current conflict, with concerns it would quickly escalate if it did.

This is likely down to the impact that reprisals would have on the impoverished territory.

Worry over stepping on economic understandings in place with Israel – including Israeli work permits for thousands of Gaza residents – is also thought to be a factor.

Israel claimed on Friday that it had set in motion a ‘pre-emptive’ operation ahead of a would-be an Islamic Jihad attack in response to the arrest of senior member Bassam al-Saadi.

It started with a strike on Friday that assassinated Tayseer Jabari, a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad.

Khaled Mansour, a prominent leader in the same group, was then killed the following day in an air strike on an apartment building in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza.

The missile obliterated the three-story building and left nearby houses badly damaged.

TOPSHOT - Smoke billows from a building struck during an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on August 7, 2022. - Israel bombarded Islamic Jihad positions in the Gaza Strip for a third day today as violence escalated, with 31 Palestinians killed and militants firing their first rockets at Jerusalem. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
Smoke billows from a building struck during an Israeli air strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strike (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
epa10110003 View on destroyed houses after an Israeli air strike in Rafah town, Gaza Strip, 07 August 2022. A third day of tensions between Palestinian militants in Gaza and Israeli forces continue on 07 August, as they exchange rocket attacks and airstrikes resulting in the death of at least 31 Palestinians and injury of 275 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The Israeli Army on 07 August announced that a second senior leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement Khaled Mansour, responsible of terrorist attacks against Israelis, was targeted and killed by IDF aircraft. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A view of destroyed houses in Rafah town (Picture: EPA)
A Palestinian man rests amidst the rubble at the scene where senior commander of Islamic Jihad militant group Khaled Mansour was killed in Israeli strikes, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, August 7, 2022. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa
A Palestinian man rests amidst the rubble at the scene where senior commander of Islamic Jihad militant group Khaled Mansour was killed (Picture: Reuters)
TOPSHOT - An Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches a missile to intercept rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, on the outskirts of the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, on August 7, 2022, amid heightened tensions between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. - Air raid sirens sounded in the Jerusalem area today, the Israeli army said, as militants in the Gaza Strip continued to trade fire with Israel for a third day. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
An Israeli Iron Dome air defence system launches a missile to intercept rockets fired from the Gaza Strip (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

A funeral for Mansour was held in the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon.

Distressing pictures show Palestinians mourning the dead, while many Israelis have fled to shelters as explosions shake the area and sirens wail.

There have been four wars and a number of other battles between Israel and Palestine over the past 15 years.

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