Israel and Palestine have agreed to extend their five-day ceasefire by 24 hours, Palestinian and Israeli officials have confirmed. The ceasefire, which was set to expire at midnight, or 5 p.m. EST, will continue for another day, officials on both sides told Reuters.
The extension of the ceasefire will give each side time to discuss the larger issues at hand like demilitarization, the release of two Palestinian prisoners and returning the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. These issues will be discussed during talks in about a month’s time, CNN reports.
Palestinian sources told Haaretz said the agreement will be “a declaration of intent, without comprehensive details.”
“The announcement will address Israel's readiness to lift the Gaza blockade and the operation of the Strip's crossings in coordination with the Palestinian Authority,” Haaretz reports.
The Ma’an News Agency also reports that a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israeli officials after 15 days of talks in the Egyptian capital. Palestinian sources in Cairo told Ma’an that Egyptian legal counsels are preparing the documents and Egyo are expected to announce .
Israel and Hamas brokered a five-day ceasefire, bringing some respite from artillery bombardment.
More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, the majority of them civilians, including 459 children and 239 women. Sixty-four Israeli were killed and two Israeli civilians and a Thai national were also killed. The UN reports that 16,800 housing have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are displaced.
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