Photos: Israel and Hamas agree to a cease-fire

Keith Bedford, Times Photography Staff
·2 min read
People celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2021. - A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, came into force early on May 21, 2021 after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)
People celebrate in the streets of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, after the cease-fire took effect at 2 a.m. Friday after 11 days of fighting. (Said Khatib / AFP/Getty Images)

With both sides claiming success, a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants kicked in early Friday after 11 days of war and appeared to be holding in its opening hours.

People wave flags as fireworks go off overhead
Palestinians celebrate in the Ramallah city center. (Abbas Momani / AFP/Getty Images)
People sit on top of a car as crowds celebrate
Palestinians in Gaza City celebrate the cease-fire. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)
A man walks between ruined buildings
A man walks Friday morning in a neighborhood hit by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City. (Mohammed Abed / AFP/Getty Images)
A child flashes the V for victory sign from the back of a family's packed car
A Palestinian family returns Friday morning to their house in Gaza City after the cease-fire. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)
Children standing on rubble in a bedroom look through a shattered wall at ruined buildings.
Children who have returned to their Gaza City neighborhood stare at the damage from their home. (Mohammed Abed / AFP/Getty Images)
A man pushes a cart past a wrecked building
A Palestinian man walks past the Al Shuruq building, destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City. (Mahmud Hams / AFP/Getty Images)
Men and boys on a horse-drawn cart pass between destroyed buildings.
People on a horse-drawn cart loaded with their belongings return home Friday in Gaza after the cease-fire. (Khalil Hamra / Associated Press)
A soldier sits atop one of a row of tanks.
An Israeli soldier sits on top of a tank Friday at a staging ground near the border with Gaza Strip. (Tsafrir Abayov / Associated Press)
Men in suits are visible through a hole punched in a second-story wall.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, left, leads counterparts Ivan Korcoc of Slovakia and Jakub Kulhanek of the Czech Republic, along with other officials, on a tour of a building that was hit by a Palestinian rocket in Petah Tikvah, Israel. (Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP/Getty Images)
A soldier walks through the wreckage of a living room.
An Israeli soldier inspects a damaged house Thursday in Ashkelon after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.