Israel has accepted a new Gaza ceasefire proposed by Egyptian mediators and will send negotiators to Cairo on Monday if the truce holds, Israeli officials said, according to The Associated Press.
Egypt had called on Israel and the Palestinians to commit to a new ceasefire that would start at 1700 ET and be in effect for 72 hours, after a previous three-day pause expired on Friday and fighting in a month-old war resumed, the AP reported.
Palestinian negotiators accepted the proposal early Sunday after meeting with Egyptian officials throughout the weekend. Israeli officials concurred later. Both delegations are back in Cairo, according to the AP.
Qais Abdelkarim, a member of the Palestinian delegation, said indirect talks with the Israelis would begin Monday "with the hope of reaching a lasting cease-fire," the AP reported. The goal, he added, was to end the blockade, which he called "the reason for the war."
A senior Israeli government official said on Sunday Israeli negotiators would return to Cairo to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians, if the truce held, also confirming the Jewish state had accepted Egypt's proposal for the new truce, according to the AP.
The Israeli team had flown home on Friday when the sides failed to reach a deal to prolong a previous three-day truce, and hostilities in the month-old conflict resumed, the AP reported.
A Hamas official said Palestinian factions had accepted Egypt's call and that the Cairo talks would continue, according to the AP. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that these new negotiations would be "the last chance" for a deal.
Hamas has demanded an end to Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the coastal territory and the opening of a Gaza seaport, a project Israel says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians, the AP reported.
