Islamic Jihad on Monday denied knowledge of a truce with Israel, but said Egypt was trying to negotiate a ceasefire after a bloody weekend in the Gaza Strip.

"We have no knowledge about a truce with the (Israeli) occupation, but there is an Egyptian effort," Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib told Ma’an.

Sources told the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen satellite network on Monday that an Egypt-brokered truce between factions in Gaza and Israel had taken hold at midnight on Sunday.

Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh discussed the cross-border escalation with Egypt’s intelligence chief Raafat Shehata on Monday, a statement from his office said. Haniyeh confirmed that Egypt was trying to negotiate a truce.

Israeli forces have killed five Palestinians in Gaza since Saturday in a series of airstrikes, prompting retaliatory rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. An Israeli army spokesman said that the last rocket had been fired from Gaza at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Israel and Gaza factions refuse to recognize each other and so talks are usually held through Egyptian mediators.

(Ma’an)