Palestine, Israel reach ceasefire agreement following fire exchange

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A ceasefire agreement was clinched between Palestine and Israel early Monday after a deadly surge in violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel over the weekend, reports said.

According to Gaza officials and the Israeli military, rockets and missiles from Gaza killed four civilians in Israel, while Israeli strikes killed 19 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, in surging cross-border fighting on Sunday.

Israel's military said that more than 600 rockets and other projectiles – over 150 of them intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system – had been fired at southern Israeli cities and villages since Friday.

Israelis take cover as a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets from Gaza, during cross-border hostilities, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, May 5, 2019. /Reuters Photo

The military said it attacked more than 260 targets belonging to Gaza militant groups. Gaza officials said Israeli air strikes and artillery fire killed 27 people, including 14 civilians, since Friday.

A rocket that hit a house in Ashkelon on Sunday killed a 58-year-old man, police said. He was the first such Israeli civilian fatality since the seven-week Gaza war in 2014.

Another rocket strike killed a factory worker, a hospital official said.

The military said a civilian was killed near the border by an anti-tank missile fired at his car from Gaza and a fourth died when a rocket struck the city of Ashdod.

In Gaza, militant groups identified eight fighters killed in Israeli strikes, while medical officials said that nine civilians also died, including a couple and their baby daughter.

Rockets are fired from Gaza toward Israel, May 5, 2019. /Reuters Photo

In what it said was a separate, targeted attack, Israel's military killed Hamed Ahmed Al-Khodary, a Hamas commander.

The military said he was responsible for transferring funds from Iran to armed factions in Gaza.

Hamas confirmed Khodary had been killed.

The attack on his car was the first such killing by Israel of a top militant since the war five years ago.

Israel had suspended what Palestinians call an assassination policy in an attempt to lower tensions.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh issued a statement late on Sunday saying his group was not seeking a broader conflict and held out the possibility of a ceasefire, although sirens warning of rocket fire continued to sound in Israeli cities into the night.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reiterated Washington's support for Israel, saying in a message on Twitter: "We strongly condemn the attacks in Gaza by Hamas terrorists. Israel has the absolute right to defend itself & the U.S. stands by our great ally Israel."

(Cover: A ball of fire is seen on a building during Israeli air strikes in Gaza, May 4, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

(With input from agencies)