News Desk :
A ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding on Friday, but there have been tensions in occupied East Jerusalem where Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and fired tear gas at Palestinians after Friday prayers.
The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect in the early hours of Friday after 11 days of relentless Israeli bombing of the besieged enclave and thousands of rockets launched into Israel by Hamas, the group ruling the Strip.
Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank poured onto the streets to celebrate the ceasefire, waving flags and flashing the “V” sign for victory.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 66 children, and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished territory. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.
Witnesses inside the compound said that after Friday prayers many Palestinians stayed at the premises to celebrate the ceasefire between Hamas and the Israeli government.
“They were singing and chanting when a contingent of the Israeli police [stationed] next to the compound came into the compound and started using crowd control measures that they use all the time, including stun grenades, smoke bombs and tear gas,” Al Jazeera’s Imran Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said.
“They started firing in that crowd in an effort to try and disperse them.”
Nine bodies, including three-year-old child, found under rubble. Rescue workers have pulled the bodies of nine Palestinians including a child, from under the rubble in Gaza, local media said.
Eight of them were retrieved from under the debris of their houses in al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Younis city, while the three-year-old girl was found under the ruins of her family house in Tal al-Hawa, south of Gaza City.
