As Israel-Palestinian truce holds, Gaza power plant restarts
As Israel-Palestinian truce holds, Gaza power plant restarts
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Palestinians celebrate the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Islamic Jihad Movement in Gaza City, early Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire deal to end nearly three days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants has held throughout the night, signaling the latest round of violence may have abated. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians clamber over the rubble of the house of Subhi Sbeihat after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of Asad Rifai, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A Palestinian woman inspects her house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Israelis rest in a bomb shelter following rocket attacks fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Israel has killed two senior Islamic Jihad militants in three days of air strikes in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian militants have launched nearly 600 rockets at Israel. Palestinian officials say at least 31 people in Gaza have died. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A Palestinian sits in the rubble of the house of Asad Rifai after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of of Subhi Sbeihat, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Relatives of Ismail Dweik, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, mourn before his funeral, outside a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A rocket is launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A woman showers after swimming in the early morning of a cease-fire in Mediterranean Sea in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A skull of a bull lies on a burnt field after a fire broke out as a result of a rocket fired from Gaza Strip hit the southern Israeli city of Sderot, near the Israeli Gaza border, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A woman takes a photo of a car that was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinian Tamim Hijazi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza as rockets rained on southern Israel, hours after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 11 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl. The fighting began with Israel’s dramatic targeted killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued into the morning Saturday, drawing the sides closer to an all-out war. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
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Palestinians celebrate the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Islamic Jihad Movement in Gaza City, early Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire deal to end nearly three days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants has held throughout the night, signaling the latest round of violence may have abated. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians celebrate the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Islamic Jihad Movement in Gaza City, early Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire deal to end nearly three days of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants has held throughout the night, signaling the latest round of violence may have abated. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians clamber over the rubble of the house of Subhi Sbeihat after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of Asad Rifai, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians clamber over the rubble of the house of Subhi Sbeihat after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of Asad Rifai, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A Palestinian woman inspects her house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A Palestinian woman inspects her house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Israelis rest in a bomb shelter following rocket attacks fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Israel has killed two senior Islamic Jihad militants in three days of air strikes in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian militants have launched nearly 600 rockets at Israel. Palestinian officials say at least 31 people in Gaza have died. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Israelis rest in a bomb shelter following rocket attacks fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Israel has killed two senior Islamic Jihad militants in three days of air strikes in the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian militants have launched nearly 600 rockets at Israel. Palestinian officials say at least 31 people in Gaza have died. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A Palestinian sits in the rubble of the house of Asad Rifai after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of of Subhi Sbeihat, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
A Palestinian sits in the rubble of the house of Asad Rifai after it was demolished by Israeli forces along with the house of of Subhi Sbeihat, both suspected of carrying out a deadly May 2022 attack on Israelis in the city of Elad, near Tel Aviv, in Rummana, near the West Bank city of Jenin, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. The Israeli military says their soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Palestinians inspect their house which was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect late Sunday in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Relatives of Ismail Dweik, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, mourn before his funeral, outside a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
Relatives of Ismail Dweik, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, mourn before his funeral, outside a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
A rocket is launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, in Gaza City, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
A woman showers after swimming in the early morning of a cease-fire in Mediterranean Sea in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A woman showers after swimming in the early morning of a cease-fire in Mediterranean Sea in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022. A cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants has taken effect in a bid to end nearly three days of violence that has killed dozens of Palestinians. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A skull of a bull lies on a burnt field after a fire broke out as a result of a rocket fired from Gaza Strip hit the southern Israeli city of Sderot, near the Israeli Gaza border, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A skull of a bull lies on a burnt field after a fire broke out as a result of a rocket fired from Gaza Strip hit the southern Israeli city of Sderot, near the Israeli Gaza border, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A woman takes a photo of a car that was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinian Tamim Hijazi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza as rockets rained on southern Israel, hours after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 11 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl. The fighting began with Israel’s dramatic targeted killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued into the morning Saturday, drawing the sides closer to an all-out war. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)
Mourners react during the funeral of Palestinian Tamim Hijazi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022. Israeli jets pounded militant targets in Gaza as rockets rained on southern Israel, hours after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on the coastal enclave killed at least 11 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl. The fighting began with Israel’s dramatic targeted killing of a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued into the morning Saturday, drawing the sides closer to an all-out war. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The body of Palestinian Muhammad Hassouna, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike is prepared for his funeral at a hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. An Israeli airstrike in Rafah killed a senior commander in the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, authorities said Sunday, its second leader to be slain amid an escalating cross-border conflict. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — With a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants holding after nearly three days of violence, Gaza’s sole power plant resumed operations Monday and Israel began reopening crossings into the territory.
Israel also lifted security restrictions on southern Israeli communities after the Egyptian-mediated truce took effect late Sunday.
War-weary people in Gaza and Israel were left to pick up the pieces after another round of violence — the worst since an 11-day war between Israel and the territory’s militant Hamas rulers last year.
Since Friday, Israeli aircraft had pummeled targets in Gaza, while the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group fired hundreds of rockets at Israel.
Over three days of fighting, 46 Palestinians were killed, including 16 children and four women, and 311 were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Twelve of those killed were Islamic Jihad militants, one was from a smaller armed group, and two were Hamas-affiliated policemen who were not taking part in the fighting, according to the armed factions.
Israel estimated a total of 47 Palestinians were killed, including 14 killed by misfired Islamic Jihad rockets. It said that 20 fighters and seven civilians died in Israeli airstrikes and that it is still investigating six deaths.
No Israelis were killed or seriously wounded in the fighting.
The violence had threatened to spiral into another all-out war but was contained because Hamas stayed on the sidelines, possibly because it fears Israeli reprisals and an unraveling of economic understandings with Israel, including the issuing of Israeli work permits that provide a vital source of income for thousands of Gaza residents.
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the group overran the territory in 2007. The clashes have exacted a staggering toll on the impoverished territory’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents.
The latest violence may have bolstered the political fortunes of Israel’s caretaker prime minister, Yair Lapid, who lacked experience leading military operations. He unleashed the offensive less than three months before a general election in which he is campaigning to keep the job.
“All our goals were achieved,” Lapid said Monday. “The entire senior military command of Islamic Jihad in Gaza was successfully targeted within three days.”
Israel began to reopen crossings into Gaza for humanitarian needs and said it would fully open them if calm continued. Fuel trucks were seen entering the main cargo crossing and heading for the power plant, which shut down Saturday after Israel closed the crossings.
That added to the misery at the height of the summer heat in the territory, which is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade and suffers from a chronic power crisis that leaves residents with only a few hours of electricity a day.
Life for hundreds of thousands of Israelis was disrupted during the violence, even as the country’s sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted many of the rockets.
Israel launched its operation with a strike Friday on an Islamic Jihad commander, saying there were “concrete threats” of an anti-tank missile attack against Israelis in response to the arrest last week of a senior Islamic Jihad member in the occupied West Bank. That arrest came after months of Israeli raids in the West Bank following a spate of Palestinian attacks.
Israel killed another Islamic Jihad leader in a strike on Saturday.
Both sides boasted of their successes. Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Sunday, Islamic Jihad leader Ziad al-Nakhalah said the militant group remained strong, despite losing two commanders. “This is a victory for Islamic Jihad,” he said.
Despite that claim, the group undoubtedly sustained a blow. Beyond losing the two leaders, it reduced its arsenal by firing hundreds of rockets.
Israel said some of the deaths in Gaza were caused by errant militant rocket fire, including in the Jebaliya refugee camp, where seven Palestinians were killed Saturday. The army said the deaths of five Palestinians in Jebaliya were still under investigation, apparently referring to five children killed in an explosion in a cemetery on Sunday.
The cease-fire deal contained a promise that Egypt would work for the release of two senior Islamic Jihad detainees held by Israel. The weekend fighting is also bound to complicate Islamic Jihad’s relations with Hamas.
In the occupied West Bank on Monday, Israeli troops demolished the homes of two Palestinians suspected of carrying out a deadly attack against Israelis in the city of Elad in May. The soldiers faced a violent protest during the operation, the military said.
Tor Wennesland, the top U.N. Mideast envoy, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that “the cease-fire is fragile” and any resumption of hostilities will have “devastating consequences” for Palestinians and Israelis and make any political progress elusive.
He condemned the Palestinian rocket fire while recognizing Israel’s security concerns. He said any use of force “must be proportionate,” with “all feasible steps” taken to avoid civilian casualties.
The Israeli army said militants in Gaza fired about 1,100 rockets toward Israel, with about 200 landing inside the Palestinian enclave. The army said its air defenses intercepted 380, including two fired toward Jerusalem. The military did not specify what happened to the remainder, but they most likely fell in open areas or broke up in flight.
Islamic Jihad has fewer fighters and supporters than Hamas, and little is known about its arsenal. Both groups call for Israel’s destruction, but have different priorities, with Hamas constrained by the demands of governing.
Over the past year, Israel and Hamas have reached tacit understandings based on trading calm for work permits and a slight easing of the border blockade, imposed by Israel and Egypt when Hamas overran the territory 15 years ago. Israel has issued 12,000 work permits to Gaza laborers and has held out the prospect of 2,000 more.
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Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.