A senior Hamas figure claimed victory in the conflict with Israel Friday in a speech to thousands of people celebrating in Gaza City after a ceasefire came into place.
“This is the euphoria of victory,” said Khalil al-Hayya, the second most senior member of the Islamist movement’s political bureau in the Gaza Strip. He also promised to reconstruct homes destroyed by Israeli air strikes.
The ceasefire brokered by Egypt, that also included Gaza’s second-most powerful armed group, Islamic Jihad, was agreed on Thursday evening and came into force on Friday after international pressure to stem the bloodshed which erupted earlier this month.
The strikes on Gaza, since 10 May, have killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, as well as fighters, and have wounded another 1,900, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Areas have been reduced to rubble and about 120,000 people have been displaced, said Hamas authorities.
According to the Israeli army, Hamas and other Islamist armed groups in Gaza have fired more than 4,300 rockets towards Israel over the course of the conflict, but the overwhelming majority of those headed for populated areas were intercepted by its Iron Dome air defences.
The rockets claimed 12 lives in Israel, including two children and an Israeli soldier, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, said police.
The conflict escalated following Hamas firing rockets towards Jerusalem after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at the Al-Aqsa compound.
Israel launched an air campaign which it has hit hundreds of military targets in Gaza and killed dozens of militants commanders, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been set back “many years”.
