Israel lifts restrictions amid ceasefire

IANS  |  Tel Aviv 

The said on Monday that it had lifted all protective restrictions, amid a reported ceasefire with militants in that ended two days of violence.

Since Saturday morning, Palestinian militants in have launched 690 rockets towards southern responded with over 320 attacks on military positions, making it the most significant escalation of violence since the 2014 Israel-conflict.

At the same time, the also carried out massive strikes in Gaza, bombing buildings and militant targets throughout the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"As of 7 a.m., all protective restrictions in the home front will be lifted," quoted an as saying in a statement.

Following the statement, most educational institutions across the south announced they will resume classes after they were closed on Sunday in the wake of the abrupt violence.

The is yet to release an official statement about the ceasefire.

In Gaza, TV, an official Hamas-run channel, reported that the ceasefire agreement between the armed groups in the and went into effect before dawn.

Israel's newspaper reported that the deal was brokered by Egyptian, Qatari and UN officials.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed, including two pregnant women and two babies, according to the

In Israel, four civilians were killed.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-Gernal condemned "in the strongest terms the launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel, particularly the targeting of civilian population centres", news reported.

He also urged all parties to "exercise maximum restraint, immediately de-escalate and return to the understandings of the past few months".

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, May 06 2019. 13:12 IST