Gaza armed groups to end round of fighting ‘if Israel reciprocates’ – Palestinian official

Armed groups in Gaza will stop the latest round of fighting if Israel ceases its attacks on the enclave, a Palestinian official said on Thursday. Speaking at a joint command center, the official said the groups had been “responding to crimes” by Israel during cross-border violence in the past two days. This referred to the killing on Tuesday of two gunmen from the Hamas militant organization. “Factions of the resistance consider this round of escalation over as far as we are concerned, and the continuation of calm depends on the behavior of the occupation,” the official said, using the militant factions' term for Israel.