After five days of intense fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire has been agreed to by both sides, starting at 10 p.m. local time on Saturday. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of 33 Palestinians and two people in Israel, and hundreds of thousands of Israelis and more than two million people in Gaza had been largely confined to bomb shelters. Despite a last-minute burst of rocket fire and Israeli airstrikes, the cease-fire brings a sense of relief to the region, though it remains to be seen how long it will last.
