A Palestinian inspects the damaged house of Islamic Jihad leader Baha Abu al-Atta after an Israeli attack in Gaza City, Nov. 12, 2019. Baha Abu al-Atta, a senior militant and leader of al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, and his wife were killed earlier Tuesday in an Israeli aerial attack on their house in eastern Gaza city. (Photo by Mohammed Dahman/Xinhua)

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad and Israel declared a halt to hostilities across the Gaza Strip border on Thursday but a lasting cease-fire appeared tenuous as they differed on terms.

Islamic Jihad said an Egyptian-­mediated truce went into effect at 03:30 GMT, about 48 hours after Israel triggered the exchange of fire by killing the Iranian-backed faction's top Gaza commander in an air strike, deeming him an imminent threat.

A few hours' calm ensued. Then witnesses in Gaza saw five rockets being launched, and sirens sounded in Israeli border towns. There was no word of casualties. 

Gaza medical officials have put the total death toll from the two days of fighting at 34 ­Palestinians, almost half of them civilians and including eight children and three ­women.

Hundreds of rocket launches by militants had paralyzed much of southern Israel and reached as far north as Tel Aviv, sending thousands of people to shelters. Dozens of Israelis were hurt.

Islamic Jihad said Israel had accepted its demand to stop both the targeted killing of militants and sometimes lethal army gunfire at weekly Palestinian protests on the Gaza border.

But Israel said it would observe only a limited quid pro quo. "Quiet will be answered with quiet," Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Army Radio.