Sound The Trumpet : Israel - Hamas Ceasefire As Troops Exit Gaza

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“Israel - Hamas Ceasefire As Troops Exit Gaza”
by Sky News
August 5th, 2014

A three-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has begun and appears to be holding, despite a late exchange of fire just minutes before the deadline.

The Egyptian-brokered truce follows six previous ceasefire attempts which have all been marked by allegations from both sides of continued attacks.

Confirming the deal, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel will honour the ceasefire and will be watching to see if Hamas does too."

Adding a further note of caution, an official speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel would be watching the day unfold "with a certain amount of scepticism".

Minutes before the ceasefire began at 8am local time (6am UK time), Hamas militants fired a barrage of long-range rockets across the border.

PALESTINIAN-GAZA-ISRAEL-CONFLICT

The southern city of Rafah was hit by further Israeli airstrikes on Monday

Hamas claimed the rockets were launched in retaliation for Israel's "massacres". Sirens were heard in Israel as far north as Jerusalem.

In Gaza, Israeli warplanes also carried out at least five airstrikes before the ceasefire took hold and the skies fell silent.

The truce follows three days of negotiations in Cairo attended by a Palestinian delegation, but shunned by Israel.

Egypt is now expected to host indirect talks aimed at thrashing out a more lasting deal.

Hamas has demanded Israel withdraw from Gaza and end a blockade of the territory.

It has also called for its prisoners to be released and for international assistance in rebuilding Gaza.

Israel.

Bassam Salhi, a member of the Palestinian delegation, admitted brokering a peace deal which satisfies both sides will prove difficult.

"It's going to be tough negotiations because Israel has demands too," he said.

More than 20 Palestinians were killed on Monday, including an eight-year-old girl who died in an Israeli airstrike on a refugee camp in Gaza City, just minutes into a seven-hour partial truce.

The Israeli military said it was targeting an "operative threat" and rocket fire in the strike.

Jerusalem, meanwhile, was rocked by two attacks which appeared to be in retaliation for violence in the Gaza Strip.

The driver of a digger was shot dead after hitting a bus, killing one person, in what Israel described as a "terrorist attack".

Several hours later a gunman shot and wounded an Israeli soldier before escaping on a motorbike.

Tensions Remain High At Israeli Gaza Border.

Some Israeli ground forces have withdrawn from the Gaza Strip

Israel launched its military operation on July 8 with the stated intention of ending "persistent" Hamas rocket attacks.

It subsequently launched a ground offensive aimed at destroying cross-border Hamas tunnels, an objective Israel says it has now achieved.

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the last of 32 tunnels located inside Gaza was destroyed overnight.

"Today we completed the removal of this threat," he said.

More than 1,880 Palestinians and 64 Israeli soldiers have lost their lives since the conflict began. Two Israeli civilians and a Thai labourer working in Israel have also died.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said the Government is also urgently looking into reports a British aid worker was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday in the southern city of Rafah.

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