Islamic Jihad 'committed' to Egyptian truce

The Islamic Jihad movement announced on Sunday that it will abide by an Egyptian mediated truce to end border violence with Israel, a statement said. An official in the movement said that the group will cooperate with Egyptian efforts to implement a truce, which was brokered overnight but failed to hold this morning. Sources close to Gaza's ruling Hamas movement and to Islamic Jihad, which was at the forefront of fierce cross-border fighting on Saturday, said that Egyptian intelligence officials helped broker a ceasefire due to take hold at 6 a.m. However, three rockets were fired at Israel after the 6 a.m. starting time for the truce, an Israeli military official said. But a senior Islamic Jihad leader confirmed Sunday the group will abide by truce efforts. "Islamic Jihad is committed to the truce as long as the occupation commits to it," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This decision comes after Egyptian efforts to convince the resistance factions, especially Islamic Jihad leaders in Damascus," he added. There have been no new reports of violence since the projectiles fired Sunday morning. Saturday's flareup in violence was the worst since August, when clashes in and around the Gaza Strip killed 27 Palestinians and an Israeli. The confrontations erupted when Israel launched airstrikes on the coastal enclave after blaming a militant group for an attack in Israel which killed eight people. The fighting ended with a truce agreement which went into effect on Aug. 26 and which has largely held.