World

Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have agreed to a ceasefire following a weekend of fighting.

The stoppage has been called for 11.30pm local time (9.30pm BST), Islamic Jihad and the Israeli government said in separate statements.

It has been the most serious flare-up on the Gaza frontier in more than a year.

In an update on Sunday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said the number of dead had risen to 43, including 15 children and four women.

More than 300 people had been injured, the ministry added.

It emerged earlier that a second senior Islamic Jihad commander – Khaled Mansour, the group’s top official for the southern Gaza Strip – had been killed.

A strike in the southern city of Rafah also killed two fellow militants and five other civilians, including a child and three women, the group said.