A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in the Gaza Strip, appeared to be holding this week, ending three days of cross-border fighting that killed dozens of Palestinians.
In Rafah, the desert town at the intersection of the Gaza Strip, Israel and Egypt, a stream of empty Palestinian petrol tankers and flatbed trucks rumbled through the border gate towards the Israeli crossing for commercial goods; after a week of tensions, the return of fresh produce and fuel to the besieged territory was welcome.
