Locals in Gaza celebrate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

As the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect between Israel and militant groups led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) early Friday morning, tens of thousands of locals living in Gaza Strip took to the streets to celebrate the end of 11 days of tit-for-tat trade of fire.

They whistled, cheered and shouted to express their excitement, Reuters reported.

Earlier on Thursday, Hamas armed wing announced that it halted firing rockets in response to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire reached with Israel. Qatar, the United Nations and other countries joined the mediation.

“I think the victory should be credited to people’s perseverance and support, even though Gaza was under great damage with hundreds of deaths and countless property damage,” said Ahmed Ghanem, a Palestinian reporter.

Over the past 11 days of tension between Israel and Hamas-led militant groups in the Gaza Strip, Israeli fighter jets carried out hundreds of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, and the militants fired hundreds of rockets at Israel, Reuters reported.

Israel said that 12 Israelis were killed and more than 100 injured by the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at towns and cities in central and southern Israel.

On Thursday, the health ministry in Gaza said that 232 Palestinians were killed, including 65 children, 39 women and 17 elderly, adding that 1,900 were injured in the last 11 days of Israeli-Palestinian tension in the Gaza Strip.