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A spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister confirmed in a statement Tuesday evening that Israel indeed accepted an Egyptian proposal for an unlimited ceasefire with Hamas and other Palestinian militant factions in Gaza.
"Israel accepts the Egyptian ceasefire proposal, as we did on July 15," Mark Regev, Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesperson said in a statementTuesdayevening.
Regev added that indirect talks about the future of the Gaza Strip will be conducted "only if there's a total end to terror attacks from Gaza," according to the statement.
The ceasefire, which put an end for the seven-week Operation Protective Edge, came into effect starting from 7 PM local time ( 1600 GMT).
Prime Minister Netanyahu updated the ministers in the security cabinet by phone on the developments. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett from the nationalistic Jewish Home party rejected the ceasefire outline and demanded a vote on the truce, but Netanyahu rejected his motion.
An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous since he was not at liberty to discuss the topic with journalists, said that the ceasefire does not answer Hamas demands, including a seaport and an airport.
It does include halting all hostilities after 50 days of ongoing fighting and allowing humanitarian aid into the enclave, which suffered substantial damages to its infrastructure. If the ceasefire will be kept, the parties will continue to discuss the other topics on the agenda later this month, through Egyptian mediation.
An Israeli defense official was quoted by the Ha'aretz daily as saying that "Israel dealt Hamas a critical blow," adding that Hamas was under heavy pressure to reach a ceasefire.
More than 2,100 Palestinians were killed since Operation Protective Edge began onJuly 8and ten thousand have been wounded. In Israel, 69 people were killed including 64 soldiers and five civilians.
