Israel and the Hamas group that rules Gaza implemented a cease-fire early Friday to end an 11-day conflict, sparking wide celebrations in Palestinian cities.
Israel¡¯s security cabinet unanimously voted to approve an Egyptian proposal for an unconditional, bilateral truce, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu¡¯s office said in a text message. The cease-fire took effect at 2 a.m. Friday to stop fighting that had devastated large swaths of the Palestinian enclave and sowed chaos in Israel.
As cries of ¡°Allahu akbar,¡± or ¡°God is great,¡± blasted from loudspeakers of mosques all over the Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to celebrate. Footage broadcast by Arab networks including Al-Jazeera showed large gatherings of people in Gaza and other Palestinian cities who were chanting, honking horns, launching fireworks and shooting into the air.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.