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Israel,
Palestine agree to long-term ceasefire in Gaza Strip
A long-term truce in Gaza has been agreed with Israel, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas said. The ceasefire announced by Egypt came into effect at 16:00 GMT with almost immediate reports of warning sirens going off in southern Israel.
RT,
26
August, 2014
Israel,
Palestine agree to long-term ceasefire in Gaza Strip
U.S.
gasoline demand down almost 0.7 mln bpd in 5 yrs
RT,
26
August, 2014
“We
have responded to the Egyptian proposal for a complete and
comprehensive cease-fire, which starts at 19:00 Cairo time,”
Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, stated. "There
will be a complete stop in fighting."
A
senior Israeli official confirmed to Reuters that Israel had accepted
the Egyptian proposal for a "for
a complete and unlimited-in-time ceasefire"
Gaza ceasefire.
"Israel
accepted already the Egyptian proposal on July 15. Israel has always
supported an unconditional, open-ended ceasefire,"
the anonymous official told the agency.
Celebratory
gunfire rang through Gaza shortly after 7pm as thousands flocked to
the streets in celebration.
However,
shortly after the ceasefire was scheduled to take effect, sirens
indicating rocket attacks also continued to be heard in southern
Israel.
Egypt's
Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that indirect talks are
set to continue within the space of a month.
An
anonymous Palestinian official also told AFP that the contacts
working on the issue in Egypt's capital "agreed
a permanent cease-fire, a [deal to] end the blockade and a guarantee
that Gaza's demands and needs will be met."
Prior
to the ceasefire's announcement, Azzam al-Ahmed, head of the
Palestinian delegation had been "shuttling
between the leadership of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, all the factions, and
Egyptian leaders, travelling between Ramallah, Gaza, Doha overseas,"
for some 48 hours, according to the official.
Tel
Aviv has reportedly agreed to bring its blockade of Gaza to a halt in
order to allow relief supplies and construction materials through.
Further discussions are expected to center around the potential
establishment of a seaport and an airport in the Gaza strip, a senior
Hamas official told AP.
The
deal reached, however, will not see the opening of Gaza’s borders
to Israel and Egypt, and did not apparently see any major steps back
on the part of Israel despite cries of ‘victory’.
Fighting
continued right up to the final minute before the ceasefire was
declared. Rocket sirens were heard in southern Israel – near the
Gaza border, reported Haaretz. Three Israelis were wounded by mortar
shell explosion in Eshkol regional Council. The Jerusalem Post
reported that at least 116 rockets exploded in the area over the
course of the day.
BREAKING:
An Israeli civilian was killed and several others were wounded after
a mortar fired from Gaza hit Eshkol.
— IDF
(@IDFSpokesperson) August
26, 2014
Monday
marked the 50th day since Israel started its campaign in Gaza on July
8 and the death toll has already reached 2,120 people, of which 577
are children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
On
Tuesday, 25 people were injured when Israel bombed two Gaza City
high-rises containing dozens of homes and shops, according to health
officials.
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