West Bank

A "mutual and simultaneous" cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas reached with Egypt mediation took effect at 2 a.m. on May 21. (23.00GMT Thursday)

The Israeli Security Cabinet voted to end attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip that began May 10 and accept the cease-fire, according to media reports.

A senior Hamas official predicted a ceasefire within days after U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek a "de-escalation" in the fighting.

Biden talked on the telephone May 19 with Netanyahu and conveyed his expectation that tensions would be drastically reduced during the day on the road to a cease-fire.

The synagogue in that city is set on fire, the streets are full of burning cars and thrown stones. Heavily armed and armored police patrol the streets, while residents are mostly locked in houses. The city authorities declared a state of emergency, introduced a curfew and brought reinforcements from the occupied West Bank, writes Index.hr.

Turkey has vowed to take any necessary step for the Palestinians under the Israeli attack while calling on the world to stand united and determined.

A family of 10 were killed early on May 15 in an Israeli air strike on the western Gaza Strip, medics in the Palestinian enclave said.

Eight children and two women, all belonging to the Abu Hatab family, were killed in the three-storey building in Shati refugee camp that collapsed following an Israeli strike, medical sources said.

Israeli warplanes on May 12 launched violent attacks on the security centers and police headquarters of Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.

Dozens of bombs were dropped within a few minutes in the south, north, and central parts of the Gaza Strip, Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The Israeli army announced this morning that in response to the shelling from the Gaza Strip on Israel, it fired 130 targets in the Palestinian territory that belong to Hamas. At least 15 members of Palestinian armed groups have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

The violence escalated on Monday night after Palestinian militants fired rockets toward Jerusalem.

In response, the Israeli military launched air strikes against militant targets in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey has called on Israel to allow the Palestinians to vote in the upcoming parliamentary elections in East Jerusalem after Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas decided to postpone the elections scheduled for May 22 following Israel's rejection of their request.

Turkey on April 16 called on Israel to cease its aggressive policies against Palestinians.

A statement by the Foreign Ministry said that such policies damage peace and stability in the region, adding: "It is worrying that Israel's policies of oppression and violence against the Palestinians escalated during Ramadan."