The military announced monday that it was removing all security restrictions imposed during several days of fighting with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, while a ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza-based terror organization was in place.
The agreement negotiated through Egypt, which took effect at 11:30 p. m. Sunday, ended a three-day standoff that began Friday with Israeli movements that killed a senior PIJ commander.
Palestinian terrorists fired around 1,100 rockets into Israeli territory, while the Israel Defense Forces shot down Islamic Jihad targets and killed the most sensible military leaders of the Iranian-backed organization in Gaza.
On a Monday morning, the IDF first announced the slow withdrawal of security measures, adding the reopening of roads near the Gaza border. Roads in the domain were first closed last week after Israel arrested the PIJ leader in the West Bank, prompting threats of retaliation by the terror organization that helped precipitate the weekend’s fighting.
The IDF said citizens of communities in the so-called “Gaza wrapper” domain no longer needed to stay near an air raid shelter, and that normal exercise service between the southern cities of Ashkelon and Sderot was scheduled to resume at noon.
Later Monday morning, the Eshkol regional council informed citizens of Israel’s southern region, which was hit hard by Rockets from Operation Dawn in Gaza, of a “complete return to routine. “
A council said limits on meeting and painting venues will be lifted and educational activities and agricultural paintings can be resumed. He added that public pools can also reopen.
The military later said all restrictions on the number of participants allowed at the meetings had been officially removed.
Also on Monday, the army’s liaison with the Palestinians announced that the Israeli-Gaza crossings would reopen for humanitarian purposes after a security assessment.
The reopening allowed for new fuel deliveries to Gaza, after closures led to the Strip’s only force plant drastically reducing operations. Later on Monday, the local corporate force announced that the plant was generating electric power after the tankers passed from Gaza to Israel.
The Defense Ministry agency, widely known by its acronym COGAT, said an assembly will be taken for the full reopening of crossings if calm remains in the south.
Citing security sources, Army Radio reported that the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza could be reopened to Palestinian personnel on Tuesday if calm remains. Workers were allowed to enter Israel through the crossing on Monday morning.
Erez, which serves as the only pedestrian crossing for Palestinians in the coastal enclave, was attacked on Sunday by mortar shells introduced from Gaza, according to the Defense Ministry.
The ministry said the roof of the terminal broke as a result of a chimney and shrapnel fell into the lobby. No one was injured because the crossing, which thousands of Palestinians regularly use to enter Israel every day to paint, was destroyed. closed last week due to the risk of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad attack on the border and the fighting remained closed.
According to the IDF, Palestinian terrorists fired more than 1,100 rockets into Israel in the fighting, of which some 380 were intercepted through the Iron Dome missile defense system, with a goodwill rate of 95-97%. The army estimated that about two hundred shells failed to cross the border and land within the strip.
In a briefing for journalists, an IDF spokesman said the military believes another 51 people were killed in the fighting in Gaza, adding 24 Islamic Jihad terrorists.
According to the army, another 16 people who were not involved in the hostilities were killed by the failed rockets from Gaza.
Eleven other people who were not affiliated with terrorist teams were killed, and a total of 27 Civilians from Gaza, including several young people, were killed in the fighting.
Gaza’s Hamas-run fitness ministry said at least 44 Palestinians had been killed, adding 15 children, and another 360 people had been injured since Friday.
Several Israelis were slightly injured by shrapnel in the fighting or while running into the canopy when rocket sirens sounded.
Millions of others have been forced to take refuge from rocket bombardments fired from Gaza, some of which have reached Tel Aviv and cities around Jerusalem.
AFP contributed to this report.
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