MOSCOW, July 15 (RIA Novosti) – The Israeli military has agreed to accept Egypt’s proposal to a ceasefire in the conflict with Gaza Strip militants, the government’s press service said Tuesday.
“The Cabinet [of Ministers of Israel] decided to accept Egypt’s proposal to a ceasefire against the Gaza Strip, which went into effect at 9:00 a.m. local time [06:00 GMT],” a press statement said.
There has been no official agreement to a ceasefire from the Hamas movement in Gaza.
The plan backed by Egypt, which returned to its traditional role of mediator between the Jewish state and Palestinian factions led by Hamas, involves the establishment of a ceasefire followed by talks in Cairo on the conditions of long-term regulations, including socio-economic issues.
The Israeli Army announced on July 8 the launch of the large-scale Protective Edge operation against Gaza Strip militants in response to continued shelling from the Palestinian side.
Since the beginning of the operation, more than 1,450 targets have been hit, including 770 rocket launchers, 69 training camps and 63 facilities for producing and storing weapons.
A total of 172 people have been killed in Gaza and another 1,250 have been wounded.
Israel has suffered no losses on its side although since the start of the campaign, Palestinians have fired over 980 rockets on the areas where 5 million Israelis live, out of a total population of 8 million.
