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Ceasefire holds after Hamas and Israel take it to the brink — again

Jmedia Manager
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Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers and Israel appeared to be honouring a ceasefire yesterday that ended two days of an intense flare-up in violence amid efforts by Egypt to negotiate between the two sides.

Israel’s military said no rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel overnight and it conducted no airstrikes in Gaza against Hamas targets. There was no comment from the government, which rarely acknowledges reaching any agreement with Hamas.

A surge in cross-border rockets and airstrikes in recent weeks has prompted the UN and Egypt to try to broker a truce to prevent another all-out conflict.

Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV channel reported early yesterday the Egyptian-brokered deal had taken hold “on the basis of mutual calm”. It was the third such truce in recent weeks. “Egyptian efforts managed to restore calm between Palestinian factions and Israel that will end the current escalation,” a Palestinian official said. “Palestinian factions will respect calm as long as Israel does.”

Read the report in The Australian (AP).