Israeli PM Netanyahu's Office Announces Ceasefire Between Tel Aviv, Hamas
Earlier in the week, contradicting reports emerged in regard with the possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after tensions erupted in May. On Wednesday, a senior Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzook, said he expected the ceasefire to happen "within a day or two".
Office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday confirmed that the Security Cabinet voted unanimously to approve ceasefire in Gaza.
The Cabinet statement, cited by The Times of Israel, says that the ministers agreed to “accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without any conditions, which will go into effect at an hour that will be determined later.”
According to AFP, both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have confirmed the ceasefire.
Earlier in the day, Israeli media reported that the Security Cabinet agreed on ceasefire between Tel Aviv and Hamas, with Channel 12 saying that the truce it is expected to begin at 2 a.m. local time.
According to Reuters, citing a Hamas official, Israel and the military group will enter a "mutual and simultaneous" Gaza truce at 2 a.m. local time [23:00 GMT] on Friday.
The meeting of the Security Cabinet was convened earlier in the day by the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly ending after three hours.
In wake of a possible truce, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that he would welcome the ceasefire by Israel, but it will not be enough, as Jerusalem remains the key issue.
"That's good that the carnage, the attack will stop. It's good that the Palestinian people, more than 2 million of them, will be able to go to sleep tonight, knowing that they will have a brighter tomorrow, but it’s not enough,” al-Maliki said. "The core issue that started all these episodes is Jerusalem. We cannot forget Jerusalem.”
The tensions between Israel and Hamas escalated on 10 May, following a decision by the Israeli court to evict several Palestinian families from the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem. Since the beginning of the hostilities, according to the Israeli army, around 4,300 rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel, with some 640 landing in the enclave.