Gaza ceasefire comes into effect after 3-day zionist regime aggression

Islamic Jihad said that the truce began at 23:30 local time (20:30 GMT) late on Sunday, after talks mediated by Egypt.

Zionist entity’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid's office also declared the ceasefire.

In a press conference held in Tehran, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad Al-Nakhala, had confirmed the truce, but he added that it too "reserves the right to respond" to any aggression.

Al-Nakhala said the ceasefire deal "contains Egypt's commitment to work towards the release of two prisoners".

The pair were named as Bassam al-Saadi, a senior figure in the group's political wing who was recently arrested in the occupied West Bank, and the hunger striker Khalil Awawdeh.

Since Friday, zionist occupation regime has carried out heavy aerial and artillery bombardment of besieged Gaza, with Islamic Jihad fighters firing hundreds of rockets in retaliation.

Gaza's health ministry on Sunday evening said the death toll rose to 43 including 15 children, with more than 300 people wounded in the Palestinian enclave.

Two israelis have been injured by shrapnel over the same period, medics reported. (ILKHA)