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Israel, Hamas accept Gaza war ceasefire

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas announced yesterday that they have agreed to an open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war, after seven weeks of fighting that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians.

A house in Ashkelon struck by a rocket from Gaza yesterday. The attack left 10 people lightly wounded. Photo: REUTERS

A house in Ashkelon struck by a rocket from Gaza yesterday. The attack left 10 people lightly wounded. Photo: REUTERS

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GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas announced yesterday that they have agreed to an open-ended ceasefire in the Gaza war, after seven weeks of fighting that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians.

In a statement announcing the agreement yesterday, Egypt — which is mediating the talks between the two parties — said Israel has agreed to open its borders with Gaza to allow humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials into the war-battered Palestinian enclave.

Indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians on other issues will also be resumed a month from the start of the ceasefire.

“Indirect talks between the two parties over other issues will resume within one month from the start of the ceasefire,” Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said of the halt to the hostilities which began at 7pm Cairo time (12am Singapore time).

Israeli and Palestinians officials said ahead of the announcement that talks on more complex issues, such as Hamas’ demand to build an airport and a seaport for Gaza, would begin in a month.

But even as the ceasefire was to take effect yesterday, violence persisted until the last minute. In Israel, mortar shells fired from Gaza killed one man and seriously wounded two people, authorities said.

Just hours before the announcement, the police in Gaza reported that an Israeli air strike collapsed a seven-storey building in the town of Beit Lahiya, the sixth high-rise to be toppled since the weekend. Booms from Israeli strikes could also be heard in Gaza after the truce announcement was made.

Still, the news of the ceasefire was welcomed in Gaza with massive celebratory gunfire. Chants normally reserved for Muslim holidays could be heard from mosque loudspeakers after the ceasefire began.

The details of the ceasefire would effectively mean Hamas and Islamic Jihad settled for terms that are similar to those that ended more than a week of fighting with Israel in 2012.

Under those terms, Israel promised to ease restrictions gradually, while Hamas pledged to halt rocket fire from Gaza at Israel. The truce held for long stretches, but Gaza’s border blockade also remained largely intact.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007. Under the restrictions, virtually all of Gaza’s 1.8 million people cannot trade or travel. Only a few thousand are able to leave the coastal territory every month.

Israel says it has destroyed most of Hamas’ network of military attack tunnels as a result of the strikes.

Even though it apparently had little to show for, Hamas declared victory.

“We are here today to declare the victory of the resistance, the victory of Gaza, with the help of God, and the steadfastness of our people and the noble resistance,’’ Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a news conference at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital.

The number of dead has also been rising steadily, reaching at least 2,140 by yesterday since the strikes began on July 8, Palestinian health officials said. On the Israeli side, 69 people have been killed, all but four of them soldiers. Thousands have also been left homeless in Gaza after their homes were destroyed or damaged in the conflict, said the United Nations. AGENCIES

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