GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and Islamic Jihad activists agreed to halt fire on Friday after days of deadly cross border violence, a Palestinian official said. Eight Palestinians, including a local commander of the Islamic Jihad in Gaza, were killed since a truce was called on Monday, raising to 26 the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes in the past week. An Israeli man has also been killed in rocket attacks launched by Gaza militants since the weekend. The Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel and the Islamic Jihad group both told Cairo they would abide by the Egyptian and United Nations mediated truce announced on Monday. Meanwhile, Egypt and Israel have agreed to increase the number of Egyptian troops in the Sinai border region after an eruption of violence in the area, a high-ranking security official told Reuters. "After continued negotiations there is now an initial agreement between Egypt and Israel to deploy more Egyptian troops in the Sinai region," the Egyptian security official said, asking to remain anonymous.