Egypt helped to negotiate a deal between Israel and the Islamic Jihad militant group after two days of heavy fighting between the two. The conflict erupted initially after Israel killed a senior commander of the group, Bahaa Abu el-Atta, whom Israel claims has been responsible for numerous attacks on Israeli targets and was, according to Israel, plotting future attacks. According to the spokesman for Islamic Jihad, Israel agreed to several demands, including an agreement to cease targeted killings of the group's leaders.
During the mid-November struggle, Islamic Jihad fired approximately 400 rockets toward Israel, some of which reached as far as Tel Aviv. Israel fired back using airstrikes. At the time of the ceasefire, the fighting had killed at least 34 Palestinians.
Subsequent to the cease-fire, Israel has reported that several rockets have been launched from Gaza, all of which were intercepted. This makes ongoing peace uncertain and raises the risk that Gaza will see ongoing violence moving forward.
