Hamas has agreed to a ceasefire, says senior Palestinian official
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/ceasefire-palestinian-official.html
Early this evening a senior official in the Palestinian Authority said Hamas has accepted a ceasefire with Israel as brokered by Egypt. The unnamed ranking member of government indicated Hamas would make the announcement in the coming hours.
I learned of the agreement at the end of a confusing day of diplomacy. Early this morning Israel stated that it had accepted a ceasefire with Hamas, ending the eight-day offensive that killed more than 190 Palestinians and made over 17,000 homeless in Gaza, living in United Nations shelters. One Israeli was killed by ordnance from Gaza. Yet throughout the day Hamas and the Gaza-based armed group Islamic Jihad have made contradictory remarks, claiming that they had not each been presented with a draft of the proposal through official channels.
A cessation of hostilities should have been a welcome relief in Gaza, but by morning’s end it was clear that while Israel had signed on, Hamas had not made up their minds.
Within an hour of Israel’s public assent to halt fire, a Qassam rocket was launched at the port city of Ashdod. The crude weaponry set off Israeli sirens and panicked the sleeping town. But the first hit after the Israeli ceasefire was not a violation because Hamas had not yet joined the agreement. In conflicting statements, both Islamic Jihad and Hamas said last night the agreement was under consideration and this morning spokespersons for each made a counter claim that they had never received an official “ask” to cease from fire. Specifically, they each said they found out about the ceasefire from “news reports”– television spectators of their own war.
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