72-hour ceasefire takes effect in Gaza

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and US secretary of state John Kerry announced the temporary break in fighting in a joint statement this morning.

A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict negotiated by the United States and the United Nations took effect this morning, suspending a bloody 24-day military campaign and setting the stage for negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a more lasting truce.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will head to Cairo for formal talks on how to end the conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,400 Palestinians and 64 on the Israeli side.

Just hours ahead of the agreed ceasefire the Israeli military said five soldiers had been killed by mortar fire near the Gaza border.

In addition, eight Palestinians were killed in Israeli tank fire, according to medics in Gaza.

Both Israel and Hamas earlier confirmed they had agreed to the truce. In a brief statement issued about an hour before the ceasefire was due to begin, the Israeli government said: “In accordance with the authority granted by the security cabinet to the prime minister and the minister of defence, Israel has accepted the UN/US proposal for a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire beginning 8am Friday.”

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group would abide by the ceasefire, Reuters reported. “Acknowledging a call by the United Nations and in consideration of the situation of our people, resistance factions agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian and mutual calm that begins at 8am on Friday as long as the other side abides by it,” he said. “All the Palestinian factions are united behind the issue in this regard.”

As the ceasefire started fishermen in Gaza City set out to sea for the first time since the war began. City inhabitants tentatively left their homes, some for the first time for days, and queues formed for taxis.

Most of those immediately on the streets were hoping to return to homes they had not seen for weeks, or salvage belongings. Grocery shops rapidly opened, selling basic foodstuffs.

But while most seemed optimistic and pleased that the ceasfire had been declared others remained defiant.

Samira Attar, 27, sitting in a donkey cart with her husband and five children and three mattresses, said she was heading back to her house in Atattraa, in the north of the strip. “I am going back to my house for the first time for 17 days. I hope this ceasfire will hold for the whole 72 hours and longer, God willing. We don’t need more bloodhsed, or more devastation. I’d like to see Israel to be defeated and broken but the circumstances were very difficult,” Attar said.

Harth Nassr, 34, a restaurant worker from Beit Hanoun, a heavily hit village in the north east of the Gaza Strip, said he too was optimistic.

“I think it will hold this time. Everybody is tired of this war,” Nassr said.

Nassr’s home was destroyed after he evacuated following a warning from Israeli forces to leave the area. “I left my house ten days ago. I went there only once in the last ten days and found the whole building, all three storeys, destroyed. I’m going back today to see if I can get any of my belongings,” Nassr said.

Fighting had continued until the last moment before the ceasefire began. Gaza came under heavy shelling and artillery fire overnight, and sirens warning of rocket attacks sounded in southern Israel. Palestinian sources said 17 people, including 10 members of one family, had been killed in Khan Younis in the early hours of Friday. The Palestinian death toll on Friday morning stood at more than 1,400, most of them civilians.

Previous unilateral ceasefires have been short-lived, with each side blaming the other for violations. This is the first time that both parties have agreed to a pause during which further negotiations will begin.

The Egyptian government made a similar proposal more than two weeks ago, which Israel agreed to, but Hamas rejected.

The composition of the delegations to attend talks in Cairo was still being worked on into the night. Diplomatic sources indicated that the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, would help decide the team representing the the Palestinian side, but was not expected to attend the negotiations.

Egypt was expected to take a central role in facilitating the talks, which will begin as soon as the parties arrive in Cairo and could, if the ceasefire is extended, last several days.

The US was also sending a small delegation, including Bill Burns, deputy secretary of state, and Frank Lowenstein, Kerry’s special envoy for Middle East.

There were no immediate plans for Kerry, who whose recent attempt to forge a ceasefire collapsed amid acrimony last weekend, to attend the talks, although a western diplomat said his attendance remained “a possibility”.

“This is a lull of opportunity,” Kerry told reporters in New Delhi, according to Reuters. “It is imperative people make the best effort to try to find common ground.”