As the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza continued to hold Thursday,
Palestinian leaders gave heated speeches to a throng of jubilant Gazans
on their "victory" over the "enemy."
Mohammed Hindi, the
leader of Islamic Jihad, a party to the truce brokered in Egypt, called
for more weapons to maintain resistance against Israel.
Supporters of Hamas,
which controls Gaza, and supporters of its moderate rival Palestinian
party, Fatah, gathered for a peaceful rally and speech near the
parliament
in Gaza City, which was hit this week in an airstrike. In a
rare showing of unity, a chorus of yellow Fatah flags joined green Hamas
banners flapping in the breeze alongside Palestinian flags.
"We should be ready
through our unity, through our resistance, to keep the perseverance and
steadfastness of our people," Hindi said.
The truce took effect at the same hour Wednesday after eight days of intense fighting.
Palestinians pulled more
victims from piles of rubble left from 1,500 confirmed Israeli strikes,
raising the death toll to 163 -- including 42 children, according to
Gaza's health ministry spokesman.
The number of those injured climbed to 1,225, said Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, 450 of them children.
One strike killed five people from one family in the hours leading up to the cessation of hostilities, he said.
During the conflict,
rocket fire killed five Israeli's, including a soldier, and wounded more
than 200 people, according to the United Nations.
The cease-fire deal
calls for talks on easing economic restrictions on Gaza to begin
Thursday, said Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government.
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