Even though rocket attacks continued until the very last moment, the open-ended ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas which came into effect Tuesday evening held throughout the night and this morning.
Ynet reports that the rocket alerts in the south continued for at least 15 minutes after the truce came into effect at 7 pm Tuesday evening.
As reported earlier by Matzav.com Israel, the two men severely wounded by mortar fire Tuesday succumbed to their wounds and died after the deal came into effect.
In the past day of fighting, over 182 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel, 143 of them falling in open areas, five hitting in residential areas, while 27 were intercepted. Since the collapse of a ceasefire last week, over 1,045 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel, 141 of which were intercepted.
Since the beginning of the operation on July 8th, 4,564 rockets and mortars were fired at Israel from Gaza Strip. Most proved to be harmless when 3,641 exploded in Israel, with only 224 falling in residential areas, and the remaining falling in open areas; Iron Dome intercepted over 735.
In the meantime, the IDF attacked 5,263 targets across the Gaza Strip.
Ynet reported that about an hour before the cease-fire, 12 mortar shells hit an Israeli communal farm near Gaza, killing two Israelis and wounding seven other people, two of them critically, the IDF said.
In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike minutes before the start of the cease-fire toppled a five-story building in the town of Beit Lahiya, witnesses said. Twelve Palestinians, including two children, were killed in several Israeli airstrikes before the truce took hold, Gaza police said.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
Where are the other 5,500?