Palestinians inspect what’s left of their house after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. (AP)

Cease-fire between Israel and Gaza militants holds

Gaza City | A fragile cease-fire deal to end nearly three days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza held throughout the night and into Monday morning –a sign the latest round of violence may have abated.

The flare-up was the worst fighting between Israel and Gaza militant groups since Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers fought an 11-day war last year, adding to the destruction and misery that have plagued blockaded Gaza for years.

Since Friday, Israeli aircraft had pummelled targets in Gaza while the Iran-backed Palestinian Jihad militant group fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.

Over three days of fighting, 43 Palestinians were killed, including 15 children and four women, and 311 were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Israel said some of the dead were killed by misfired rockets.

Israel on Monday said it was partially reopening crossings into Gaza for humanitarian needs and would fully open them if calm was maintained.

Life for hundreds of thousands of Israelis was disrupted during the violence. Security precautions imposed in recent days on residents of southern Israel were being gradually lifted on Monday, the military said.

The violence had threatened to spiral into another all-out war but ended up being contained because Gaza’s ruling Hamas group stayed on the sidelines. This is possibly because it fears Israeli reprisals and does not want to risk economic accords with Israel, including work permits for thousands of Gaza residents, that bolster its control over the coastal strip.

Read the article by Fares Akram and Tia Goldenberg in the Financial Review.