Overnight airstrike brings Gaza deaths to 12

Two militants were killed overnight Sunday as Israeli forces targeted the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll in the coastal enclave to 12 since Saturday. Palestinian medical sources identified the victims as Yousif Rawhi Mahmoud Abu Abdu and Ali Abdullah al-Aqad, both from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. They were transferred to the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The Al-Ansar brigades, a military wing of the Al-Ahrar movement, said in a statement that the victims were fighters in the group. They vowed to retaliate for the deaths. The Israeli army released a statement just after midnight Sunday confirming a direct hit on the Gaza Strip. It said the strikes targeted a militant group that had fired projectiles at Israel. There have been no new reports of violence since the overnight airstrike, with an Egyptian-brokered truce seemingly holding. A spokesman of Islamic Jihad's armed wing said on Monday the Al-Quds Brigades would abide by the truce as long as Israel did, warning of an immediate and harsh response if Israel escalated hostilities. An Al-Ansar brigades spokesman said the group "respects the national consensus, but will respond" to Sunday's deadly airstrikes. A truce secured through Egyptian mediation early on Sunday failed to end cross border violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, as projectiles were fired from Gaza and Israel launched an airstrike in the afternoon, killing a DFLP fighter. Late Sunday, Israel's Channel 10 cited an Egyptian official saying a new truce would come into effect from 10 p.m. In the worst day of fighting since August, Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed nine Al-Quds Brigades fighters in Gaza, and militants fired a volley of rockets and mortars into southern Israel, killing one Israeli in Ashkelon. The flareup marks the bloodiest weekend since Israel bombarded the coastal enclave in August, after blaming a militant group for an attack in Israel which killed eight people. The exchange of fire killed 27 Palestinians and an Israeli.