21.05.2021 – 08:13
Israel and Hamas will cease fire between them starting at 2 a.m. Friday, a Hamas official and Israeli media said.
The Israeli security cabinet said it had voted unanimously in favor of a “mutual and unconditional” ceasefire on Gaza proposed by Egypt, but added that the time of implementation had not yet been agreed.
The ceasefire would bring about a possible cessation of hostilities, the toughest in decades.
The announcements come a day after US President Joe Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to defuse the situation and while there have been offers of mediation from Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had spoken by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and reiterated the message that the United States expects to see a “de-escalation on the road to a ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinians.
A Hamas official told Reuters that the ceasefire would be “mutual and simultaneous”.
Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved the ceasefire on the basis of what one official called “calm in exchange for calm.”
Rocket attacks by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad resumed after an eight-hour hiatus on Thursday as Israel continued bombings it said were aimed at destroying Hamas military capabilities and preventing a future confrontation after the current conflict.
White House: encouraging announcements
The White House said Thursday that reports of a move toward a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are encouraging, although Israel has threatened to step up attacks on Gaza and Hamas resumed rocket fire after a halt.
Diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire escalated on Thursday following a call by President Joe Biden the day before to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to defuse tensions and following statements by Hamas political official Moussa Abu Marzouk, who said he believed the ceasefire would to be achieved “within a day or two”.
An Egyptian security source, whose country has mediated the ceasefires between the parties, said it had agreed in principle to a mutual ceasefire but details had not yet been worked out.
“We have seen reports of a move towards a possible ceasefire. That is certainly encouraging, “White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a news conference.
“We believe that the Israelis have achieved important military objectives that they wanted to achieve in terms of protecting their people and responding to the thousands of rocket attacks by Hamas,” Psaki said.
“So that is partly why we think they are in the right position to start closing their operation,” she said.
Rocket attacks on Israel stopped for eight hours on Thursday, the 11th day of the conflict, but then resumed against communities near the Gaza border and the city of Beersheba.
Israel continued airstrikes on Hamas-administered Gaza, stating that it intended to destroy the capabilities of this Islamic militant group so that it would not launch another confrontation in the future.
Hamas, which is seen by the West as a terrorist organization, has not been part of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s engagement with Israel, which led to an interim peace agreement in the 1990s and the establishment of limited Palestinian self-government in the West Bank. occupied the West./VOA/
