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28 March 2024

Israel, Gaza agree to ceasefire

Smoke rises after an Israeli mobile artillery unit fired a shell from southern Israel towards the Gaza Strip, in a position a near the Israel Gaza border. Israel's prime minister says Israel would be a "willing partner" in a cease-fire with Gaza's ruling militant group Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu made the pronouncement Tuesday at a meeting with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, who is in the region as part of an international diplomatic push to end nearly a week of fighting between Israel and Hamas. (AP)

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By Agencies

A ceasefire to end almost a week of violence in and around the Gaza Strip is to be announced in Cairo on Tuesday night, Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources told AFP.

"There will be a joint press conference between Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Egyptian mediators tonight to announce the truce," an Islamic Jihad source told AFP, while a Hamas source confirmed the announcement.

But an Egyptian source close to the negotiations, speaking to AFP from Cairo, was more cautious and said "up to this point there is no final decision."

"Egypt has sent the final proposal... and we are waiting for the final Israeli response," he said. "If there is agreement on this it means we are close to announcing a ceasefire.

An Israeli diplomatic source told AFP that negotiations were ongoing.

"We are working very hard using our diplomatic channels. We are working continuously. But I cannot give you an estimated time of arrival (of a truce)."

The diplomatic correspondent for Haaretz newspaper said that a ceasefire "might start this evening" during a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Two senior Israeli officials: cease fire in Gaza might start this evening -- within a few hours -- during Clinton's visit to Jerusalem," said Barak Ravid on his Twitter account.

Hours earlier, Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi said Israel's "aggression" against Gaza would end on Tuesday and Cairo-mediated truce efforts would produce results within hours, the official MENA news agency reported.

"The farce of the Israeli aggression will end today, Tuesday, and the efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis will produce positive results within a few hours," it quoted him as saying.

A senior Hamas official told AFP "the agreement is expected to crystallise in a few hours."

The main sticking point, he said, was whether Israel would begin easing its six-year long blockade of Gaza coinciding with the truce or at a later date.

"A compromise solution is for there to be agreement on lifting the siege, and that it would be implemented later at a specified time," he said.

Israel on Tuesday said it was holding off a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give the truce talks a chance, after an overnight meeting of senior Israeli ministers weighed the Egyptian proposal.