Gaza ceasefire

I would say that this is no victory for Israel. The peace agreement was negotiated, as far as I can see, without Israel and it took some time for Netanyahu to respond.

Although Israel has overwhelmingly superior firepower they have been shocked by Hamas's ability to respond. Israel has, since 2009, lost two key allies - Turkey and Egypt.

We will have to wait and see how this develops from now, but, no doubt attention will shift to the larger Middle East arena - Syria, and Iran.

Egypt announces Hamas-Israel ceasefire, Netanyahu office confirms

Egypt's foreign minister announced Wednesday that a ceasefire would begin in Gaza at 19:00 GMT. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that a deal had been reached

RT,

21 November, 2012

Egypt's foreign minister announced Wednesday that a ceasefire would begin in Gaza at 19:00 GMT. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that a deal had been reached.

The truce announcement was made by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“These efforts and contacts have yielded an understanding about a truce and restoration of calm, and the halting of the bloodshed that we have witnessed during the recent period,” Amr said.

"A short while ago Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with [US] President Barack Obama and agreed to his recommendation to give a chance to an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and thereby give an opportunity for the stabilization of the situation and a calming of it," the Netanyahu office's statement reads.

The deal stipulates that Israel “stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip – land sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals,” while “all Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.”

The document also says that crossings should be opened to facilitate the movement of people and goods, and that residents’ free movements should not be restricted, while targeting residents in border areas should be.

According to the deal, the exact details of implementation will be decided 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.

The announcement comes after Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-Moon traveled to Cairo on Wednesday to push for a ceasefire as the conflict entered its eighth day.

The UN Secretary-General met with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Clinton 
met with Morsi as well, and later with Amr. 

"Ultimately every step must move us towards a comprehensive peace for the people of the region," Clinton said after the ceasefire was announced.

Later, during a special press conference devoted to the ceasefire, Netanyahu expressed gratitude to Clinton, Obama and Egypt for their, cooperation saying Israel “put in a lot of military power together with diplomatic.”

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that all his government's military goals in Gaza were "achieved"as the ceasefire agreement comes into effect.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal praised Egypt for its efforts in reaching the truce agreement. He said that Israel has started the conflict, and that Hamas was forced to respond. He added that while Israel claims to have reached its goals, it “failed to destroy Gaza’s infrastructure.”

Arab diplomats were also active in the negotiation process. An Arab League delegation arrived in Gaza on Tuesday to support the Palestinian people, while last week Egypt's Prime Minister Hesham Kandil traveled to Gaza with a support mission.

Rumors about an imminent truce have been circulating in the media for a while.

On Tuesday, Hamas official Ayman Taha announced that an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire was to be declared in Gaza at 19:00 GMT and would go into effect at 22:00 GMT the same night. Shortly after the announcement, Israel said a ceasefire deal was yet to be finalized.

Also on Tuesday, Morsi expressed certainty that Gaza and Israel would shortly 

reach a ceasefire, but did not elaborate on the matter.

Ceasefire in affect in Gaza: for the time being

On Wednesday, the violence between Israel and Hamas has stopped. During the past eight days the Gaza Strip was been pounded by bombs and missiles killing hundreds. The ceasefire was implemented a few hours ago and as tensions wind down what's next for the region? Liz Wahl has the latest.

This is the response of Israel's zionist English-language daily, the Jerusalem Post

PM: Cease-fire will allow Israelis to get back to routine

Egypt FM makes formal announcement of truce in joint press conference with Clinton in Cairo; Netanyahu touts success of Operation Pillar of Defense, thanks Obama for "unwavering support for Israel" during operation.

Jerusalem Post,

21 November, 2012

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended his decision to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza saying he wished to allow Israel's citizens to "return to their normal routine."

Netanyahu discussed his decision to agree to a cease-fire, ending Operation Pillar of Defense after eight days, at a press conferece with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman. The Egyptian and US-brokered cease-fire went into effect at 9 p.m. as the three leaders spoke.

Netanyahu stated that Operation Pillar of Defense had successfully destroyed "thousands of Hamas rockets" and destroyed the organization's command centers.

Netanyahu thanked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for helping to secure the cease-fire agreement in Egypt. He also voiced his gratitude to US President Barack Obama.

The prime minister said that Obama showed "unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself." He added that the US and Israel would cooperate going forward in halting the smuggling of weapons from Iran into the Gaza Strip.

Egypt announced that a cease-fire had been reached to end eight days of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, saying that the agreement would go into effect at 9 p.m.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr made the announcement in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"These efforts ... have resulted in understandings to cease fire and restore calm and halt the bloodshed that the last period has seen," Amr said.

Israel has agreed to the truce, but will not lift its blockade of Gaza as part of the deal, according to an Israeli official.

Netanyahu told US President Barack Obama on Wednesday he was ready to give a cease-fire with Hamas a chance, his office said in a statement.

"(Netanyahu) spoke a short while ago with President Barack Obama and agreed to his recommendation to give the Egyptian cease-fire proposal a chance, and in this way provide an opportunity to stabilize the situation and calm it before any more forceful action would be necessary," an Israeli statement said.

More than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed in the fighting that began last Wednesday.

The cease-fire was forged despite a bus bomb explosion that wounded 28 Israelis in Tel Aviv earlier in the day and despite more Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip.

After talks in Ramallah with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Clinton held a second meeting with Netanyahu before traveling to Egypt for discussions with Morsi, whose country has led mediation efforts.

In Tel Aviv, targeted by rockets from Gaza that either did not hit the city or were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor system, 28 people were wounded when a bus was blown up near the Defense Ministry and military headquarters.

The blast, which police said was caused by a bomb placed on the vehicle, touched off celebratory gunfire in Gaza and had threatened to complicate truce efforts. It was the first serious bombing in Israel's commercial capital since 2006.

In Gaza, Israel struck more than 100 targets, including a cluster of Hamas government buildings, in attacks that medical officials said killed 10 people, among them a 2-year-old boy.

Medical officials in Gaza said 146 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, including 36 children, have been killed in Israel's offensive. Nearly 1,400 rockets have been fired into Israel, killing four civilians and a soldier, the military said.

Here is Hitlery Clinton's speech

Al-Jazeera gives an Israel-centric view quite well