Israel and Hamas agree on ceasefire beginning from 2300 GMT Thursday

Israel and Hamas agree on ceasefire beginning from 2300 GMT Thursday, 2 a.m. as per Palestine local time, after 11 days of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said his security cabinet had voted unanimously in favour of a “mutual and unconditional” Gaza truce proposed by Egypt. But he added that the hour of implementation had yet to be agreed.

Israel and Hamas agree on ceasefire beginning from 2300 GMT Thursday

Meanwhile, in a televised address at 2200 GMT, U.S. President Joe Biden said both sides agreed the truce would begin “in less than two hours”.

Hamas and Egypt said the truce would begin at 2 a.m. (2300 GMT Thursday), after 11 days of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

According to Reuters, the sides traded blows again in the countdown.

Sirens warned of incoming rockets in Israeli border communities.

More than 250 Palestinians embraced martyrdom due to Israeli airstrikes.

Amid growing global alarm at the bloodshed, Biden had urged Netanyahu to seek de-escalation.

Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations sought to mediate.

While extending condolences to bereaved Israelis and Palestinians, Biden said Washington would work with the United Nations “and other international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance” for the reconstruction of Hamas-controlled Gaza.

He said aid would be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority – run by Hamas’ rival, President Mahmoud Abbas, and based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank – “in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal”.

The United States was also committed to replenishing Iron Dome interceptors.

That helped Israel fend off more than 4,300 rockets fired at it from Gaza during the this month’s conflict.

Hamas said the ceasefire would be “mutual and simultaneous”.

“The Palestinian resistance will abide by this agreement as long as the Occupation (Israel) does the same,” Taher Al-Nono, media adviser to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said.

GTV