Armed groups in Gaza Strip agree to ceasefire

The Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement said on April 7 that it had convinced most of the armed groups in the Gaza Strip to sign a ceasefire agreement in an effort to prevent escalating violence with Israel.

Hamas' interior minister said he had "received a positive response from most Palestinian factions to stop the Jewish escalation".

An official from the Islamic Jihad movement said the ceasefire would take effect from the night of April 7 local time (morning of April 8 Hanoi time). The official also said that several Arab countries had participated in the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli soldiers. Source: Internet

The move came after Hamas militants fired an anti-tank missile at a school bus on April 7, along with dozens of mortars and rockets into southern Israel.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for Israel's killing of three of its leaders last week.

Israel retaliated shortly afterwards with an airstrike on Gaza, killing four and injuring more than 30.

On the same day, Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Riyad Mansour expressed hope that the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza will prevent the risk of renewed war with Israel.

Speaking after meeting with the President of the UN Security Council to ask the body to intervene in an appropriate way to avoid escalating tensions in Gaza, Mr. Manxua said that after Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups declared a ceasefire, all parties, including Israel, would also cease fire.

According to the plan, the UN Security Council will conduct its monthly discussion on the Middle East on April 26, but many member countries hope that this discussion will take place before the meeting of the Quartet on the Middle East (including the UN, Russia, the US and the European Union) scheduled for April 15 in Berlin, Germany.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country will take all necessary actions in Gaza after the attacks on April 7.

Speaking at a press conference during a visit to Prague (Czech Republic), Mr. Netanyahu expressed hope that violence would be prevented, but affirmed that "we will not hesitate to take all necessary actions, both offensive and defensive, to protect our country and its citizens."

In the latest development, in the early morning of April 8, hundreds of Israeli soldiers raided the Palestinian village of Awarta in the northern West Bank, destroying many Palestinian homes and arresting more than 100 women on the grounds of "hiding the perpetrators of the murder of an Israeli family".

Those arrested were taken to a facility to have their fingerprints and DNA samples taken, after which most were released.

According to VNA/Vietnam+