The cease-fire agreement between the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and Israel entered into force at 2 a.m. May 21 after 11 days of fighting. At least 232 Palestinians and 12 Israelis were killed, and more than 1,900 Palestinians and 335 Israelis were injured.

The agreement was reached unconditionally and simultaneously through Egyptian mediation and following pressure from the United States. The Israeli government and the Palestinian factions said they would abide by it; Egypt said in a May 20 statement that it would send two security delegations to the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv in the coming hours to see to the implementation of the agreement.  

Before the truce, the two sides had been launching projectiles at one another until the last minute. Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson for  Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a televised speech, “We had prepared a rocket strike over the whole of Palestine, from Haifa to Rammun [in the West Bank]. But, we responded to the Arab mediation for a cease-fire, and we will observe the behavior of the enemy as of 2 a.m. May 21. … Our rocket strike will depend on the enemy’s compliance with the cease-fire agreement.”

In the wake of Israeli attempts to evict Palestinian families from their houses in Sheikh al-Jarrah in East Jerusalem and the Israeli police raid into Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, the leader of Hamas’ armed wing, Mohammed al-Deif, threatened a military confrontation if Israel did not put a halt to such measures. A few days later, Hamas launched its rockets toward Jerusalem on May 10.