The details of a truce that would end Gaza bombardment are not clear between Israel and the armed group. This raises the possibility of more violence.
An official for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) says the armed group’s members will resume their fight against Israel following the latest bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip if their high-ranking officials are not released.
Monday’s comments highlighted the divergent narratives offered by PIJ officials and Israeli officials following a tenuous truce on Sunday night that halted three days of Israeli bombardment at the coastal Palestinian enclave. The bombardment claimed the lives of at least 45 Palestinians, including 16 children.
PIJ responded by firing rockets towards southern Israel, including civilian areas, without any casualties.
Al Jazeera: Khaled About Hait, spokesperson for Islamic Jihad, told Al Jazeera about the current Non-violenceIt was based on the clear agreement that Israel would release two top-ranking members: Khalil Al-Awawda in one day and Sheikh Bassem Al-Saadi in two weeks.
“We have a very clear decision that without releasing Khalil Awawda and Bassem al-Saadi there will be no ceasefire agreement,” he said from Beirut, Lebanon.
“That will be a break of the agreement from the Israeli side, and the fight will be continued,” he added, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid of launching the attack to gain support ahead of upcoming elections.
Israel’s Internal Security Minister Omer Bar Lev earlier told Israeli media the agreement did not include the release of PIJ prisoners.
Egypt, which mediated the agreement with support from the United Nations and Qatar, also offered a less definitive version of the deal, saying it was “exerting efforts to release” Awawda, who has been on hunger strike, and “transfer him for treatment”, while also working for the release of al-Saadi “as soon as possible”.
Monday night saw an Egyptian delegation in Tel Aviv, working towards the release.
Israeli forces launched what they described as “pre-emptive” raids on Gaza after arresting al-Saadi last week, saying the attacks were meant to prevent retaliation from the PIJ. International observers, including UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanez, have said the tactic undermines Israel’s regular claim of self-defence.
The fighting was the worst in Gaza since an 11-day war last year that killed at least 260 people in Gaza and 13 people in Israel. Large swathes of the besieged enclave were destroyed by the violence, and rebuilding efforts are ongoing during the latest escalation.
After Israel opened major crossings that had been closed before its attack, fuel shipments as well as humanitarian aid began arriving in the coastal region. The Israel-imposed land and sea blockade has been in place since June 2007 in the enclave, which is home to more then two million Palestinians.
Reporting from Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Youmna El Sayed said the situation remains “very complicated politically”.
“It’s a very cautious silence. It’s a very fragile ceasefire,” she said.
Lynn Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, was in Gaza looking into the aftermath of Israeli strikes and called for an end to violence.
“[The] ceasefire must hold regardless of whatever deal is made so that the civilian population is able to live safely without fear and … be able to exercise their rights,” she told Al Jazeera.
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