WarSclerotic

Palestinian media reported Wednesday that Egypt has ‎been able to broker a cease-fire between Israel and ‎Hamas in the wake of the flare-up in southern Israel that morning, which ‎was threatening to escalate rapidly. ‎

The report was not corroborated by Egyptian or Israeli officials.

Israeli fighter jets struck 20 Hamas positions in ‎‎the ‎Gaza Strip on Wednesday morning after a Grad ‎rocket ‎fired from Gaza hit a house in Beersheba, ‎‎40 kilometers (25 miles) away, ‎causing extensive ‎damage to the building.‎

Six people, including a woman and her three ‎‎children, managed to escape the rocket attack with only minor ‎‎injuries, as they were able to reach shelters within the ‎60-second alert ‎time. ‎A defense official ‎later said that the 20-kilogram ‎‎(44-pound) rocket ‎may have condemned the building. ‎

The second rocket landed in the ocean, off the coast ‎‎‎‎of a major central Israeli city, the IDF said. ‎

The Palestinian Maan news agency reported that ‎Egyptian officials who are visiting Gaza in efforts to mediate a long-term truce teamed ‎with U.N. Middle East envoy Nikolay Mladenov and ‎held urgent meetings with the Palestinian factions ‎in Gaza.‎

Egyptian intelligence official Ahmed Abdel Khalek, ‎who heads the delegation, was able to convince the ‎Gazan groups to halt their fire, the report said.‎

Mladenov ‎later met with President Reuven Rivlin to ‎discuss the developments in Gaza. ‎

“Unfortunately, the past 24 ‎hours have been very complicated,” Mladenov said. “The rockets fired ‎at Beersheba were a dangerous escalation, part of a ‎pattern of provocation meant to drag Israel and Gaza ‎to another war.”‎

Rivlin stressed that “the world must know that the ‎State of Israel will not sit idly by while its ‎citizens come under attack.”‎

The delegation of senior Egyptian intelligence ‎officials and diplomats arrived in the Gaza Strip on ‎Tuesday for a series of meetings with Hamas leaders, ‎ahead of Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel’s ‎shuttle diplomacy mission between Tel Aviv and ‎Ramallah. ‎

Cairo said this was a last-ditch effort to stave off ‎a military conflict between Hamas and Israel.‎

Senior Egyptian intelligence officials told Israel ‎Hayom that Kamel, who was not planning to visit ‎Gaza, first wants to stabilize the situation, then kick-start the stalled reconciliation ‎efforts between the rival Palestinian factions.‎

It is unclear how the recent developments may affect his ‎mission.‎

The reports were also unclear as to whether ‎the Egyptian-brokered truce would be a long-term one that ‎could become a wider agreement that would ‎alleviate the economic crisis in Gaza, or whether it would be simply ‎another short-lived lull.‎