Israel and Palestine Agree on Unconditional Ceasefire... Ten Days After Armed Conflict (Update)

Photo by WSJ

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Israel and the Palestinian armed faction Hamas, which have been engaged in armed conflict for ten days, have agreed to a ceasefire through international mediation.

According to major foreign media on the 20th (local time), the Israeli government held a security-related ministers' meeting that evening and unanimously approved a mutual unconditional ceasefire plan. The ceasefire will begin at 2 a.m. on the 21st.

Hamas also confirmed that it accepted the ceasefire plan mediated by Egypt and the United Nations.

Since the outbreak of the armed conflict on the 10th, 232 people, including 61 children, have died and about 1,900 have been injured in the Gaza Strip, while Israel has reported 12 deaths and over 300 injuries.

This conflict was the deadliest type of confrontation since the '50-day war' between Israel and Hamas in 2014, which claimed over 2,000 lives.

The clashes between Israel and Hamas originated from restrictions on the religious activities of Palestinian Muslims during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan and conflicts surrounding Israeli settlements.

During this year's Ramadan, Israeli authorities closed the Damascus Gate Square in the northern Old City, where Muslims gather to spend the evening after breaking their fast, provoking protests from Palestinian residents.

Additionally, tensions escalated over the Sheikh Jarrah settlement conflict, located just 2 km from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as plans were made to evict long-time Palestinian residents from the area.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.