THE fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip appeared to be holding today, after five days of attacks from Israeli occupying forces that killed 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel.

The latest round of fighting in Gaza was sparked on Tuesday when Israeli jets killed three top commanders from the Islamic Jihad militant group. 

Those killings led to retaliatory missile fire from Palestinian resistance fighters until an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire took hold late yesterday.

While the calm appeared to bring a sense of relief to Gaza’s two million people and hundreds of thousands of Israelis who had been largely confined to bomb shelters in recent days, the agreement did nothing to address the main issue of the Israeli occupation.

In Gaza, residents surveyed the latest damage caused to their surroundings, with gaping holes left in the apartments serving as what Israel said were hideouts for the six senior Islamic Jihad members killed during this round. 

Gaza’s main cargo crossing with Israel was set to reopen today after warnings that keeping it closed would force Gaza’s sole power plant to shut down, deepening an energy crisis.

Israeli officials have expressed satisfaction with the latest battle, having killed many of Islamic Jihad’s top brass in what it says were pinpointed strikes based on solid intelligence. 

But at least 13 of those killed in Gaza were civilians, among them children as young as four years old, as well as women.

Israel has faced criticism in the past from rights groups over the civilian casualties in its bombardments in Gaza. But there has been only muted criticism from the United States and its allies.

Throughout the fighting, Israel’s repeated air strikes targeting Islamic Jihad and its command centres and rocket-launching sites showed no signs of stopping the Palestinian rocket fire, prompting Islamic Jihad to declare victory and sending cheering Palestinians out into the streets late on Saturday.

Israel reported over 1,200 launches throughout the fighting, with some rockets reaching as far as the Tel Aviv and Jerusalem areas. 

It was the latest in a long series of battles between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza since the Islamic militant group Hamas took control of the seaside territory in 2007 after winning elections in the strip. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars, and there have been numerous smaller flare-ups as well.

Israeli forces captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians claim all three areas for a future state.