SHAH ALAM, 5 Aug: Israel and Hamas are expected to agree to a three-day ceasefire after the proposal was put forward by Egypt, starting today.
Gaza officials said that the battle claimed the lives of 1,834 Palestinians, mostly civilians, while Israel lost 64 soldiers and three civilians since it began on July 8.
In addition to the loss of life, it caused Palestine and Israel economic recession.
Gaza is faced with a huge amount to re-build infrastructure, while Israel lost hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism, other industries and overall economic growth this year.
The spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Mark Regev, said that Israel would respect the ceasefire as agreed in negotiations through Egypt.
“If Hamas violates the ceasefire agreement, Israel is ready to respond.
“Israel agreed to the conditions set by Egypt and hopes that the ceasefire will last longer and benefit everyone,” said Regev, citing Reuters.
Palestinians and Hamas are now in Cairo meeting with the Egyptian Intelligence Chief to end the violence in Gaza which has claimed the lives of over a quarter of 1.8 million people and 3,000 houses have also been destroyed.
Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the Islamist group has already informed Egypt that they accepted the 72 hours of calm starting from today.
Israel is also expected to send representatives to participate in negotiations in Cairo to extend the ceasefire agreement.
Regev said that they agreed to start the implementation of the Egyptian initiative if the ceasefire does not require military presence in the Gaza Strip.
Since the fighting began, several peace attempts were made but received no agreement from both sides but this time, the results of the Egyptian initiative could be implemented if they can negotiate in peace in the long run.
NS
