Lasting peace urged amid Israel-Palestine cease-fire

An Egypt-brokered cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip has raised hopes of easing the humanitarian disaster of Palestinians, but finding a lasting peace should be the focus for the region, analysts said.

After five days of tit-for-tat fighting that killed 33 Palestinians and one Israeli, and injured almost 150 people, Israel and the PIJ agreed to end the bloody confrontation on Saturday.

However, a few minutes after the cease-fire took effect, militants fired around 20 rockets from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel, Xinhua News Agency reported. Israeli fighter jets fired back and targeted lookout posts and sites of the Gaza militants. No injuries were reported.