Life on both sides of the Gaza Strip border began returning to normal on Sunday after an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire halted five days of fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad, which killed 34 Palestinians and an Israeli. Israel reopened its goods and commercial border crossings, allowing fuel to flow to the lone power plant in the blockaded coastal enclave. Shops and public offices reopened and crowds returned to streets that had been deserted for days.
A ceasefire took effect in and around the Gaza Strip on Saturday after five days of cross-border exchanges that have killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel.The truce was due to take effect at 10:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), Egyptian and Palestinian sources said.But in the final 30 minutes running up to 1900 GMT, dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, prompting renewed air strikes, AFP correspondents in the territory said.Most of the rockets were intercepted by Israeli air defences.