Palestinian Islamic Jihad agrees to stop firing rockets at Israel

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group says it has agreed to stop rocket fire towards Israel in response to Egyptian mediation efforts.

Daoud Shehab, a spokesman for the Iranian-backed group, said that his movement is immediately halting the rocket attacks.

Israel has accused Iranian forces based in Syria of orchestrating the heaviest barrage of rockets to emanate from Gaza in months.

The rocket attacks followed the death of four Palestinians participating in a protest along Gaza’s perimeter fence withIsrael.

Egyptian mediators have been in the region for weeks, trying to secure calm and prevent a full-blown war between Israel and Gaza groups, led by the larger militant Hamas group.