Islamic Jihad leaders: We are committed to ceasefire with Israel
“The [Islamic Jihad] delegation affirmed its [group’s] commitment to the ceasefire which was reached by way of an understanding in 2014.”
By ADAM RASGONUpdated: MARCH 5, 2018 23:15Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants attend a military parade in Gaza October 19, 2016.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Senior Islamic Jihad leaders on Sunday said their group remains committed to a cease-fire that it and Hamas struck with Israel at the conclusion of the 2014 Gaza War, the Islamic Jihadlinked Palestine Today TV reported.Khaled al-Batsh and Nafidh Azzam made the remarks in a meeting with senior Egyptian Intelligence Services officials in Gaza City.“The [Islamic Jihad] delegation affirmed its commitment to the cease-fire which was reached by way of an understanding in 2014,” the Palestine Today report said.Tensions between Islamic Jihad and Israel escalated in late October and early November.On October 30, Israel demolished a tunnel that Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, Saraya al-Quds, dug from Gaza into Israeli territory, killing 12 of the group’s members who were inside the tunnel at the time.A few days after the demolition, Islamic Jihad vowed to exact revenge against Israel at “the suitable time” and build more tunnels in order to abduct Israeli soldiers.Batsh and Azzam also told the Egyptian delegation that greater efforts are needed to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.Gaza suffers from high rates of unemployment and insufficient electricity and water infrastructure.Substantial parts of the Strip have not been reconstructed since the 2014 war.In January, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov said Gaza was beyond a “humanitarian crisis” and was “on the verge of a total systems failure.”
