Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a statement on the weekend, saying the situation in the Gaza Strip was "under control".
The statement came after four days of violence triggered by an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis in which a Hamas operative was killed and four city residents were wounded.
In return, resistance groups showered Israeli settlements in Gaza with scores of mortar shells and Qassam locally made rockets. The escalation of violence threatened the collapse of the unofficial ceasefire.
Israel called the Palestinian Authority to work to halt the mortar shelling, and threatened to resume military incursions into Gaza populated areas.
In a meeting between Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef and few Hamas leaders, Hamas agreed to cease mortar and rocket firing, saying its fighters will only retaliate to Israeli military attacks.
Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip have repeatedly warned that the unofficially declared truce allow them to retaliate to any Israeli violation with a "violation". Israel had refused to be a partner to the truce.
After the meeting Hamas issued a statement agreeing to the PA call for an immediate cessation of fire, but noting "the obligation to calm does not mean giving up the right to self-defense in the face of Israeli aggression."
